For developer Rebecca Lynn, the Ewing Independent Living affordable supportive housing complex wasn’t just another construction project.
For one thing, she’s not a developer by trade. In 1997, when she first had the idea for building what is now the 72-unit apartment complex on Whitehead Road, she was a visiting nurse. Traveling from home to home caring for the elderly, Lynn said she saw the need for housing that was somewhere between a full assisted living senior center, and a completely independent living situation.
“There were people that were home and just needed a little bit of help, and there wasn’t a place they could go that provided just a little bit of help,” she said. “There were just nursing homes and assisted living, and they were not incapacitated enough for either of those options.”
So, Lynn, a Ewing resident, took it upon herself to build one, even though she had never done such a thing in her life. She was, and still is, a visiting nurse.
Lynn learned the process on the fly, and, during the 11 years it took to get the project built, cobbled together the $15 million it took to build from 11 different government agencies, paid for engineering studies and plans with the money she made as a nurse, and overcame opposition from neighborhood residents who fought the project every step of the way.
(Now that the project is finished, Lynn said, she hasn’t heard any complaints from those neighbors.)
Now, she expects the 72nd lease to be signed any day now, meaning Ewing Independent Living will be fully occupied. The affordable housing complex consists of the 72 apartment units, plus a common area including a library, a kitchen, a dining room, a barber and beauty salon, and a wellness office.
Tenants can start off with no additional services when they move in, and add them “a la carte” as they get older, Lynn said.
Ewing Independent Living also has 12 units set aside for developmentally disabled adults.
The building was built using recycled materials including recycled cement instead of wood, and includes solar panels that provide 25 percent of the building’s power.
Getting to this point wasn’t easy. Lynn said she had to take out a third mortgage on her home to pay costs associated with the process. She also took all the money she made as a visiting nurse and put it toward attorney’s fees, engineering studies and other costs.
“I have a very supportive family,” Lynn said. “I couldn’t give up, and we just persevered. We ate a lot of pasta.”
Though Lynn’s company, Lynn Developers, is a for-profit enterprise, she said she only registered it that way to become eligible for tax credits. Lynn’s nonprofit organization, Assisted Living Inc., provides the on-site assisted living services.
Lynn is not a hands-off landlord — you can find her most days serving meals to residents. The meals are prepared at the ARC Mercer just across the street.
Lynn is not resting on her laurels, either. She has already bought land for her next project, a nine-unit assisted living facility on River Road in Hopewell Township.
She hopes the process won’t be as arduous as the 11-year journey to build Ewing Independent Living. But she doesn’t regret setting out on her mission, despite all the personal sacrifice.
“It’s been an extraordinary experience, and I would do it again,” she said.
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