BIRCHEZ ASSOCIATES: Kingston-Based Developer Grows in Response to Critical Need....

Birchez Associates was founded by Kingston developer Steve Aaron, in response to the critical need for affordable housing in Ulster County. After building two highly successful communities in Ulster County, with several more in various stages of development, Birchez has earned a reputation for creating original strategies and partnerships to build innovative communities designed specifically for workforce families, senior citizens, single parents and veterans.
When Birchez began operations as a family-run business in the mid-'90's, affordable housing was sorely needed, but not necessarily at the top of local community agendas. As the decade progressed and working people throughout the region struggled with skyrocketing housing costs, in large part due to a continuing influx of downstaters and a lucrative second home market, the lack of affordable housing reached crisis proportions.

When affordable housing does open up, offices are swamped with applications, as was the case with Birchwood Village, Birchez Associates' landmark workforce family community, which received nearly 400 applications in the first week of rent-up. The 80-unit townhouse community is the first affordable housing for families built in Kingston in more than 30 years and the first ever in Ulster County to be built in partnership with New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal's Section 42 Program.

Many local residents find their income is too low to afford appropriate market-rate housing but too high for rent subsidies. Senior citizens are especially at risk. According to the Ulster County Office for the Aging, approximately 1,300 Ulster County senior citizens are on waiting lists for affordable housing and most have been on the lists for up to three years. The senior population in the county is expected to double within the next 11 years. The city of Kingston had to close its waiting lists earlier this year because there were too many applicants.

Local communities are looking for help. Affordable housing has become an urgent issue and local officials are seeking the assistance of proven developers like Birchez Associates, which has more than doubled its workforce while continuing to expand throughout the Mid Hudson Valley.

"This is not just about bricks and mortar," says Aaron, Birchez Associates' managing partner, "It's about helping people find a community where they can safely bring up their families and live out their lives...it's about helping people regain dignity and hope for the future."

Aaron is the first developer in Ulster County to build adaptable/accessible affordable housing enabling senior citizens to 'age in place'- fostering self-sufficiency while maintaining a safety net for the frail elderly.

CHAMBERS COURT, the pioneering 72-unit senior citizen community in the Town of Ulster, built by Birchez in 2004, is the first affordable senior housing in the town in 30 years and was nominated as the NYS Association for Affordable Housing's Project of the Year. All units are handicapped accessible or easily adaptable, equipped with 24/7 emergency call systems and an extensive array of senior-friendly amenities, which enables residents to remain in their own homes as they progress through the aging process. As with all Birchez communities, the complex includes a large, freestanding Community Center for social, educational and recreational activities, for creating 'community within the community'.

All Birchez apartments include private entrances, wall to wall carpeting, self-cleaning ovens, frost-free refrigerators, bathroom grab bars, in-wall air conditioners, mini-blind window treatments, and are cable TV and internet ready; also smoke detection and fire sprinkler protection; on-site laundry facilities, individual, private mail boxes, individual storage space, convenient parking, security and maintenance, snow removal, and landscaping. Rents are based on federal income requirements and include hot water, baseboard heat and a specified utility allowance for electricity.

The Chambers' "sister project", THE BIRCHES AT SAUGERTIES, a 60 unit, six-building senior community off Route 9W in Saugerties, pioneers a new concept in affordable senior housing by providing residents with the services of an on-site Senior Advocate to assist with coordinating county, state and professional services. Currently under construction, completion is expected by mid-2006.

Committed to addressing the needs of moderate-income families as well as seniors, BIRCHWOOD VILLAGE was launched this past October - an unprecedented 80-unit townhouse community for workforce families - the first affordable family housing in Kingston in more than three decades. The complex consists of 80 two and three bedroom apartments in eleven, two-story buildings, plus a spacious Community Center. It incorporates many innovations, including an "in-house" Family Support Liaison to help residents coordinate community-sponsored programs. Financing for BIRCHWOOD VILLAGE was in part facilitated through the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency.