Miller proposes housingV’ville seniors to live the high life"

By Michelle O’Riley

VOORHEESVILLE — A local developer has submitted a proposal to build new senior housing — nine condominiums — at 80 Maple Avenue. Troy Miller, owner of Miller Construction and CM Fox Real Estate, plans to tear down the old farmhouse on the property that forms the gateway to the Salem Hills development.

According to Miller, the 900-square-foot condominiums will each have one bedroom with separate laundry and storage facilities. The cost for each unit may range from $165,000 to $180,000.

The building, he said, will be beautiful and will be an aesthetic improvement to the area. His plan is to construct a residential building that will fit into the existing area’s architecture.
Miller had a preliminary meeting with the village planning commission last month to discuss his proposal. According to Miller, the meeting went well. "No one debates the need for senior housing," he said.

Discussions have been underway for over a year about plans for Omni to build a large senior complex near St. Matthew’s Church in the village. Currently, there is no senior-housing complex in Voorheesville.

The next step for Miller is to go before the zoning board on May 3. Four variances — for lot size, property-line setbacks, maximum density, and municipal sewage — will need to be approved by the board before Miller can move forward with the project. The zoning board will hold a public hearing on the request for the variances at 7 p.m. on May 3 in the village hall.

If the variances are approved, Miller will then need to go before the planning commission, said Deputy Clerk Treasurer Karen Finnessey. The village currently has very strict zoning laws for multiple-dwelling housing for seniors, said Finnessey.

Miller said he is not worried since a senior-housing project he is working on in Altamont was approved and his plans for Voorheesville are similar but on a different scale. Ground will be broken on the Altamont project this week, Miller said. There, he is constructing row-house-style units with a Victorian look, which he plans to have completed in eight or nine months, he said.

In Altamont, Miller is building eight 800-square-foot units on a 16,000-square-foot lot.

Altamont has no other senior housing, although a larger project, with 72 units, proposed by Jeff Thomas, has been in the planning stages for over a year. It is to be located on Brandle Road, just outside the village line. The last hurdle in proceeding with that project appears to have been cleared as this week the village settled with Brandle Road landowners over purchasing a well site for a municipal water source. Litigation had held up progress on the project.

Miller has lived in the area his whole life and owns multiple residential properties in Guilderland, Voorheesville, and Altamont. He has also been building in the area for the past 12 years. When helping his mother transition from her home into a smaller residence, Miller began to notice the lack of local senior housing options.
"My mother would only accept being in the village," he said.

However, if Miller were not in the real estate business he doubts that he would have been able to keep his mother in the village, he said.

That helped make his decision to turn the Park Street property in Altamont into a senior-housing complex. He said that, within three days of the publication of an Enterprise article detailing his plans, he had reserved all four pre-constructed units in Altamont.

The problem is, there is not enough vacant land in Voorheesville to do significant building, said Miller. Due to this, seniors are getting pushed to the outskirts of town where there are no sidewalks for them to get to the library, the stores, or the banks, he said.

He explained how the families he has worked with are so appreciative of the opportunity to be able to keep their relatives living locally.
"A lot of these seniors have made Voorheesville what it is," Miller said.

He admits that the project in Altamont began for tax purposes. But it turned out to fill a significant need in the area, which has positively impacted the lives of its residents. As the need for housing increases, Miller hopes to be able to continue building in the area for its seniors.