Laconia Housing is preparing to welcome its first residents to Sunrise House, a new 16-unit apartment building in downtown Laconia that will provide housing and support services to persons with disabilities who are 62 years of age or older. Both market rent and subsidized rent units are available.
Construction, which began in November 2018, will be completed this winter and occupancy will commence in early 2020 Sunrise House will sit next to Laconia Housing’s 98-unit Sunrise Towers and create a new Sunrise Residential Living campus. The two properties will share a parking lot and green space but also staff, including a nurse, licensed nursing assistants, kitchen crew, and housekeeping staff. The ability to share a kitchen and staff made this addition economically feasible to provide support services to program tenants.
Sunrise House will have 14 one-bedroom, one bath and two two-bedroom, two bath apartments on three floors. All will be air conditioned and accessible by an elevator. Each apartment will have a small kitchen and living room. More importantly, all will have oversized, roll-in showers to accommodate wheelchairs, and half the showers will be big enough for a wheelchair and a personal assistant.
There will be a community gathering space on the ground floor where residents can enjoy meals together, visit, or watch television. There will be additional community space on each floor near the elevator. Twelve of the units will be rented to very low-income seniors age 62 or older who meet federal income requirements and who can remain living independently if assisted with daily living activities such as grooming, meals, medication management, and transportation.
Residents in these units will pay rent equal to 30 percent of their income. Medicaid’s Choices for Independence (CFI), available to only those who qualify for Medicaid, will cover the cost of supportive services. The remaining four units, which will also be available to moderate income seniors age 62 or older, will be available at market rates of $2,450 a month for one-bedrooms and $2,750 for two-bedrooms. Residents in these units must also require assistance with daily living activities. The monthly rate includes rent and a service package tailored to the specific needs of the resident. Meal Plans will be available daily for all residents at additional cost. The project will bring additional enhancements to residents in both Sunrise House and Sunrise Towers.
This fall, Laconia Housing is moving its 15-person administrative staff out of Sunrise Towers to its Tavern Inn annex site on Church Street to make room for an expanded laundry and new working space for support services staff and social service agencies that work onsite with Sunrise residents. The renovation will give residents a private place to meet with nursing staff and counselors. And, it will make room for additional washing machines and dryers so residents who do their own laundry will have greater access to machines.
The changes will also allow Laconia Housing to expand the dining space at Sunrise Towers because it will no longer share the dining room with the laundry and a library. The new dining room will look as it did in the 1960s - wide open with natural light coming in through large windows on both sides. The room will be divided into two spaces, one for dining and another for activities and socialization. The rooms will open on both sides to outside seating.
Laconia Housing is currently accepting applications for Sunrise House. For more information, contact Laconia Housing at 603-524-2112.