Council hears 55+ housing proposal

BLYTHEWOOD – Preliminary plans for a senior living campus in downtown Blythewood were floated past Council along with a request for Mayor J. Michael Ross to sign a letter of support for the project last month.

Tom Ulrich of Lancaster, representing Pendergraph Development, told Council on Sept. 25 that his company is proposing to build a senior citizen independent living facility on Creech Road behind the Russell Jeffcoat real estate offices.

Ulrich said the facility would be three stories high, with an elevator and 64 one- and two-bedroom units. The facility will sit on five acres and would be for seniors 55 and older and disabled residents.

“We’ve built these all over South Carolina for 25 years,” Ulrich said. “There’s one in Lancaster if you’d like to go up and see it. Just let me know.”

“The reason we asked you to come here tonight is because you have asked us for a letter of support,” Ross said. “I’ve done one of these letters before for a multi-family dwelling for senior citizens, then it got changed. If we approve sending this letter of support to you we will emphatically have something in here that we don’t need any other housing right now,” Ross said. “We already have low income housing. I just want to make it clear to you that there will be no other type of housing. I’m not signing another one of these letters without Council’s approval.”

Council voted to have attorney Jim Meggs look over the letter and make any necessary changes before resubmitting it to Council.

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