Senior housing projects progress in Dunmore, roughly $21 million investment

Yahoo

02-05-2025

Two senior housing projects will add nearly 90 apartments and personal care units to Dunmore Corners, representing an estimated $21 million investment into Dunmore's downtown.
Construction of the four-story Bucktown Center at East Drinker and South Apple streets is nearly complete, creating 37 one-bedroom apartments — each about 800 square feet — and three two-bedroom apartments, said Marty Fotta, chief operating officer of United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Bucktown Center, which also has 5,500 square feet of first-floor commercial space currently available to lease or buy, is set to begin moving in residents by the end of June, said UNC President and CEO Lisa Durkin.
On going construction at the Bucktown Center senior apartment complex in Dunmore on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A block away, the Dunmore Personal Care Residence at Chestnut and Calvin streets is set to break ground by July to construct a 48-unit personal care home that is scheduled to be completed in fall 2026 under a 14-month construction timeline, said Dunmore native Michael Kelly, president of Scranton-based Senior Health Care Solutions. While United Neighborhood Centers will operate the nearby Bucktown Center, Kelly is also the developer behind that project. The Bucktown Center is an estimated $12 million project, and the Dunmore Personal Care Residence is about a $9 million project, he said.
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A lot on the corner of Chestnut and Calvin St. that developer Mike Kelly plans on constructing a 48-unit personal care facility in Dunmore on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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A rendering of the Dunmore Personal Care Residence at Chestnut and Calvin streets. Construction is set to begin this summer, wrapping up in the fall of 2026. (Courtesy of Michael Kelly, president of Senior Health Care Solutions)
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A rendering of the Dunmore Personal Care Residence at Chestnut and Calvin streets. Construction is set to begin this summer, wrapping up in the fall of 2026. (Courtesy of Michael Kelly, president of Senior Health Care Solutions)
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A lot on the corner of Chestnut and Calvin St. that developer Mike Kelly plans on constructing a 48-unit personal care facility in Dunmore on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Earlier this month, Kelly held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his Tunkhannock Rehabilitation and Health Care Center at 27 West St., Tunkhannock, opening a 52-bed 'state-of-the-art center' to provide long-term care in Wyoming County, according to Kelly. His Tunkhannock facility will have hotel-like amenities with private rooms and baths, common and private meeting rooms, a bistro cafe, recreational activity rooms, a physical therapy gym, a media center, dining areas and an interactive nursing station, according to Kelly.
Kelly's firm, Senior Health Care Solutions, has developed 25 facilities across Northeast and Central Pennsylvania, including about 13 in Lackawanna County. Though he has since sold them, Kelly previously operated facilities in Blakely, Dunmore, Jessup, Old Forge, Scranton and Throop.
Both Kelly and Fotta noted the demand for senior housing in the Dunmore area. United Neighborhood Centers opened applications for the Bucktown Center at the beginning of the year, and so far, they have received more than 150 applications, Fotta said.
Kelly expects to open applications for his nearby personal care residence in early spring 2026.
The developments cater to baby boomers, Kelly said, pointing to the demand for private accommodations.
'Our parents, grandparents, they were used to sharing bathrooms and rooms,' he said. 'Everybody wants private accommodations anymore. … You don't want to dine at a table with 30 people, you want to live personally within yourself.'
At the Bucktown Center, where rent will be around $900 to $1,000 per month including all utilities, apartments will have a living room, a kitchen and dining room area, a bedroom and washer and dryer hookups, Fotta said. The units are also accessible with amenities like easy-to-enter showers and grab bars 'to make it really comfortable for the seniors who are going to live there,' he said. Tenants must be 62 or older.
Although they are private, independent-living apartments, there will be shared community spaces like balconies overlooking Drinker Street and a large community room, Durkin added.
At the Dunmore Personal Care Residence, residents will have access to a bistro cafe and bar, a recreational activity room, a physical therapy gym, a media center and multiple dining areas, Kelly said. Outdoors, there will be a patio and a wheelchair-accessible garden. The residence will be staffed by licensed practical nurses and aides, and it will offer on-site doctor's visits, in addition to providing transportation to off-site medical visits, medication administration and access to therapists and social work, among other services, Kelly said.
'You move into here, and all your needs are met, and if you have some physical maladies, we take care of that for you,' Kelly said. 'It's peace of mind for your kids, it's peace of mind for yourself that you're safe.'
Residents at the personal care home will be able to come and go as they please, he said.
Though it depends on need, the average room will be about $3,500 to $4,000 per month, which is all inclusive, including food, beverages, care and laundry, he said.
'I think it's low for the industry,' Kelly said of the rate. 'We'd like to be as affordable as possible for the elderly.'
Dunmore Mayor Max Conway lauded the 'tremendous development' happening in Dunmore Corners in recent years, including the senior housing projects.
'This is real money we're talking about,' he said. 'These aren't some smaller investments that are being made.'
Conway believes the new housing will provide a boost to nearby businesses with new clientele from not just the incoming residents, but also their visiting family and friends.
'We're only going to see more development up there,' he said.
Because of the requirements for the Bucktown Center under the Pennsylvania State Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, United Neighborhood Centers will have to quickly move residents in in June when the facility is complete, Durkin said. As a result, she asked the Dunmore community for some patience if there are any traffic holdups from moving trucks.
'In the long run, this is going to be a community asset that really contributes to the neighborhood and the vibrancy of the beautiful town of Dunmore,' Durkin said.
Anyone interested in applying to live at the Bucktown Center can email housing and property manager Debra Reese at [e-mail], and any businesses interested in occupying the first floor can contact Joy Hubshman, the director of community housing development, at 570-346-0759 or [e-mail].