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Updated 34 minutes ago
For Toni Uherek, the time had come to listen to her body.
And her body was telling her she couldn't continue to go up and down the three flights of stairs to her Irwin apartment much longer.
“I couldn't do the steps anymore because of my knees,” said Uherek, 74. “I was on the third floor, so 21 steps up and 28 down to the laundry.”
She began searching for one-floor homes in a housing community and found just what she needed at Serenity Ridge in Plum, which had a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house last week.
“It's like night and day,” Uherek said of her new dwelling. “Downsizing was hard. I used to live in Wilmerding and had four bedrooms. Then I went to two in Irwin and now it's one. You don't need much. This works out fine.”
Estralita Brooks, 64, said she searched numerous places to live before choosing Plum. “Other places were crowded. Different people in communities were different, but here it's like surreal,” said Brooks. “You get to know your neighbors. It's peaceful and very nice to live here.”
Serenity Ridge at 9381 Saltsburg Road is a 62-unit senior residential community completed in December. Construction began July 2015 and leasing started in August 2016.
The units are arranged in one and two-bedroom, one-floor townhouses affordable to residents at 20, 50 and 60 percent of the area median income of $53,000.
Units range from 760 to 931 square feet. There are also common areas that include a lobby/mail area, storage, offices, a community room, a computer/game room and laundry room.
Serenity Ridge was developed by S&A Homes of State College. “We have all but about 10 units now occupied by senior citizens 62 and up,” S&A Homes Vice President Andrew Haines said the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “Hopefully they're all happy. I see some tenants here … This community was built for you and senior citizens of Allegheny County. Today's a celebration.”
The project was funded through federal low-income housing tax credits, via the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. Construction financing came from Huntington Bank, with funding assistance from Allegheny County Department of Economic Development and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati.
The layout is 55,112 square feet and cost roughly $9 million to develop.
Plum assistant manager Dave Soboslay said the borough did a survey of its residents a few years ago.
“Senior housing was really the number one issue that was lacking here in the borough,” Soboslay said. “Council made it possible through some zoning changes to allow these facilities to exist. The nice thing that we see is our residents who have lived here a number of years can now stay here. The one-floor living that we have here certainly provides the seniors the ability to stay in Plum for many more years.”
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-871-2367.
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