‘A big step forward’ New affordable senior housing complex in Meadowthorpe opens
A 71-unit affordable housing complex for seniors opened this week in Meadowthorpe.
Meadowthorpe Landing on Antique Drive, behind the Meadowthorpe shopping plaza on Leestown Road, was approved by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council in 2017.
The long-awaited senior housing complex has 57 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom apartments. The complex also has a community room, fitness area, walking trails, laundry facilities and an outdoor gazebo. All floors are served by an elevator.
Affordable senior housing is one of the city’s and surrounding area’s largest unmet needs, city officials said Monday. Meadowthorpe Landing is one of the largest complexes for low-income seniors to open in recent years.
“Our city needs more affordable housing, especially for senior citizens,” Mayor Linda Gorton said Monday at an official ribbon-cutting. “We still have a lot of work to do, but this is a big step forward.”
AU Associates President and founder Holly Wiedemann said AU worked with the surrounding neighborhood to make sure the senior living complex was a good fit for the entire area.
“It was architecturally designed to highlight the surrounding context of the area, as evidenced by its extensive use of brick and abundant landscaping,” Wiedemann said.
The AU Associates project received a $687,666 loan from the city’s affordable housing fund. Other financing partners include Kentucky Housing Corporation, Community Affordable Housing Equity Corporation, Berkadia, Freddie Mac and RiverHills Bank. The loan from the city’s housing fund will be repaid over time.
Since 2014, the city’s affordable housing fund has allocated $15 million for the development and preservation of 1,755 affordable units. To date, that money has leveraged an additional $151 million in financing and investments for those projects.
Wiedemann said the development is still accepting applications. To find out more email meadowthorpe@auassociates.com or call 859-327-3827.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 3:51 PM.
