Plans are afoot to create a 20-acre retirement community at the site of Pam Minford’s old Fountainhead banquet hall, which burned to the ground in 1999 at 6650 Lower York Road in Solebury.
The Solebury Planning Board on Monday viewed sketch plans for the project from developer Kevin McCollum, chairman and CEO of Heritage Senior Living; Michael McCormick, owner of Fountainhead Properties; John Parry of JRP Architects, and engineers from Gilmore & Associates Inc.
The occupants would be 55 years or older and pay rent to the project owners who would provide maintenance, utilities, and shuttle buses.
Board Chairman T.J. Francisco asked why they are not building a market-rate community.
“Well, people are not getting any younger. The population is aging rapidly” and seniors who want to downsize are finding real estate prices unaffordable, said McCollum, a Solebury resident.
His Fountainhead at Solebury, “is a good investment,” he said, “and good for people who want to stay here.”
The plan calls for:
• 130 apartment units in four buildings;
• 20 single-family detached two-bedroom cottages;
• a clubhouse-community center;
• a community garden;
• 348 parking spaces.
“I’ve seen this site do nothing for 20 years,” McCollum said of the old banquet hall property.
He hopes to change that, and once and if his plan wins township approval, he expects construction will take 15 to 18 months.
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