Senior apartment building opens on Roosevelt Road
By Susan S. Stevens
Tucked into
a nook of the Roosevelt Square redevelopment project on the Near West Side
is a five-story building offering new rental apartments to seniors.
“This was a little hole in the big ABLA redevelopment,” said Kate E. Ansorge, development specialist for Eastlake Management and Development Corp. and project manager of the seniors' building, Roosevelt Place, at 1401 W. Roosevelt Rd.
“The City donated the land,” Ansorge said. The result is 68 apartments—62 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units—for tenants who must be 55 or older. Rent is figured on a sliding income scale.
“I love my apartment,” said Patricia Kerz, who moved in Feb. 6. “It is beautiful and sunny.”
The former Catholic school teacher, who has become a “full-time volunteer” at churches in North Lawndale and Little Village, had a total knee replacement a year and a half ago ago. “My other knee is not that good," Kerz said. "The doctors said to avoid stairs.” That prompted her move from a second story walk-up to the elevator building.
A step-in shower with safety bars and parking behind the building are other pluses, Kerz said, noting, “Everything is so convenient. The management is so nice to us. I feel like a queen.”
Eileen King, the project manager, is on hand daily to make certain residents are satisfied.
All ten of the first occupants are women, but King said two men would be moving in soon. Several residents are retired nuns, but the building is open to all comers.
One-bedroom units start at $510 a month for tenants whose income is below $21,120 per year. Rents increase to a market rate of $800. Two-bedroom units start at $600 and go up to $925 a month.
Each apartment has a full kitchen including refrigerator, electric stove, and dishwasher. Each has commodious closets. The building provides heat and cable hookups, so residents pay only electricity and phone bills, Ansorge said.
Apartment sizes range from 620 to 860 square feet.
Four floors have a laundry room with a washer and dryer and a storage locker for each apartment.
Roosevelt Place also offers a computer room and a fitness room with new machines. The building is fully handicapped-accessible, and about ten percent of the units were designed for residents in wheelchairs. Bathrooms and bedrooms are connected to an emergency call system.
A multi-purpose room with expandable tables and cushioned chairs seats about 100 people, while two other rooms are available for smaller meetings.
Roosevelt Place’s pet-friendly policy attracted some of the new residents. A dog that barks when a visitor knocks on his mistress’s door has already moved in.
Dogs up to 15 pounds are allowed on the first floor, as are cats. Second floor residents are permitted cats only. The third through fifth floors do not allow pets because some people are allergic to them or object to them for other reasons.
