HRS Aiming For Late Summer Completion Of Oak Tree Towers

Highland Residential Services Oak Tree Towers nears completion as final touches are made.

Director of Operations Chris Cassetty said the exterior of the building is complete, but painting and flooring still remains.

“Our original completion date was right at the end of June, the first of July,” Cassetty said. “Obviously, we are not going to make that, but I think we are looking until the end of August certainly no later than the middle of September.”

Cassetty said if construction meets the mark, residents can begin moving in by October. Cassetty said the housing authority encourages seniors to continue submitting applications.

“We can’t move in all fifty people in at once, so it will take a couple of weeks to go to the first person moving to the last person moving in,” Cassetty said. “I think we will get that done and accomplished by the end of October.”

Cassetty said the big delay right now is the arrival of appliances. Cassetty said delivery of building materials during the process also played a role in setbacks.

“They still have not come in,” Cassetty said. “There is a huge back log. I think our manufacturing has really got behind after last year. We do understand they are in the process of being manufactured and hopefully will be in soon.”

Oak Tree Towers on Buffalo Valley Road is the first new development in over 20 years for the housing authority, Cassetty said. Fifty one-bedroom units included in the three-story midrise for low-income seniors age 62 and up.

“It is a very different product for us,” Cassetty said. “We’ve never built three stories before. It’s a different style of living, and I think in many ways it is going to be good. (…) I think there a lot of good amenities for our elderly, so I am excited about that.”