Senior housing going up in Tompkinsville
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - TOMPKINSVILLE - The multi-story building going up in the carved-out hillside on Victory Boulevard, between Fiedler Avenue and the old Tompkinsville Theater, has attracted its fair share of attention recently, as rectangular, box-like modules have been hoisted into place, story by story. A construction worker at the site told the Advance recently that each module is a completely finished and equipped pre-fabricated apartment, and that the building's stairways and elevators will be added once all the modular units are firmly secured. "There's going to be an art gallery on the first floor," he said. The $12 million project will provide 39 units of housing for senior citizens and low-income tenants, funded via a mix of public money, government subsidies, and private investment, the Advance reported in May of last year, naming R. Randy Lee of the Leewood Real Estate Group in Graniteville as co-developer, along with the nonprofit Victory Fiedler Housing Development. "We are going to build it and wrap it in a bow and hand it over to CASC," said Lee at the time, referring to the nonprofit Community Agency for Senior Citizens, which will manage the building. Neighborhood residents and passing motorists have contacted this newspaper, curious about the project's construction methods. "Is this safe? Or innovative?" one local resident asked in an e-mail last month. Shores has contacted Lee's company, seeking to confirm what the construction worker said last month and obtain additional information about the construction technology. We have not received a response as of press time, but will keep you posted.
