A plan to create local affordable senior housing

A Berks County real estate agent is looking to solve a problem he’s seen working with older residents in the region by starting a nonprofit organization that will address affordable senior housing.

Pete Gustis is founder of Harmony Senior Housing, a non-profit that is seeking to take a property he owns and convert it into a senior living complex that will offer affordable rentals for people who need to downsize and cut down on expenses.

Gustis bought a blighted 125,796-square-foot warehouse at 500 N. 3rd Street, in Reading with the intention of using the property to be used in the medial marijuana market.

But the medical marijuana laws weren’t going the way he hoped, and he decided he needed to come up with a better use for the space.

But what would be the best use?

“As a real estate agent, I’ve seen that ever since COVID, rentals and home sales have gone up dramatically,” Gustis said. “In the past it was easy for me to help them find appropriate housing, but Social Security is simply not adjusting for the increasing cost of rent.”

He said many older clients expressed to him that they felt stuck. They may have wanted to downsize from their home which was getting too large for them to handle, or taxes were making the property less affordable.

They would come to him looking to downsize, often to an apartment rental because it would eliminate the maintenance work that comes from home ownership.

But apartment rents had gotten out of their price range, and they didn’t know where to go.

“We need a collective effort to make a lasting change,” said Gustis.

And that is why he founded Harmony Senior Housing.

With the nonprofit, he is hoping to engage other nonprofit and community organizations to fund the roughly $30 million he believes it will take to convert the property to up to 244 residential units for seniors.

Gustis doesn’t, however, have any intention of becoming a landlord. His plan is to create a resident board made up of the seniors that will live at the property that will manage the apartments in the way they think is best.

He does, however, envision some big things for the apartments.

The planned amenities include a community center, fitness facilities, cafeteria, salon and spa, rooftop decks, and transportation services, Gustis said. 

Seniors will have the opportunity to engage in diverse activities, from wellness workshops to social mixers, art exhibitions, and intergenerational events with local schools and colleges.

With all of the amenities, Gustis said his plan is still to keep the apartments affordable to seniors living on a fixed income.

He surveyed seniors that he thought would be interested in such an arrangement and most told them they couldn’t afford much more than $900 per month.

His goal is to have apartments available in the neighborhood of $700 to $900 per month.

He said Harmony Senior Housing aims to create a vibrant community space where seniors can live comfortably without fear of eviction or unfair rental hikes.

Gustis said the timeline for the development of the apartment project is approximately 24 months, divided into phases ranging from pre-development assessments to post-construction stabilization.

He’s hoping he gets the support he needs to make the housing project a reality.

“This would be able to help so many people,” he said.