Senior housing complex under way

Work continues in high gear for crews building a new senior housing complex on the north edge of town.
The workers have taken advantage of the ongoing spell of dry weather, said Ron Dean, owner of Dean Development, LLC.
The Prairie Village-based company is building the apartments — to be known as Cedarbrook Estates — amid Iola’s newest residential area on what used to be a portion of Cedarbrook Golf Course.
The goal is to get much of the complex’s exterior finished so that work can continue unimpeded once wintry weather arrives.
The apartments are billed as affordable housing opportunities for any resident 55 or older.
The project was made possible through housing tax credits the company is receiving from the state, Dean said, which in turn makes rent low enough for those on fixed incomes.
There are income restrictions, Dean said, although a single resident living on Social Security should qualify.
For more information, or to be put on a waiting list for room availability, call (620) 365-2400. While a local number, the call will be patched through to Dean officials in Prairie Village, Dean said.
The apartments will be rented on a first-come, first-serve basis, he said, making it important to be placed on the waiting list promptly.
“There’s no obligation,” he said. “Everyone has the right to say ‘no thanks’ if their name comes up.”
Dean hopes to have the first lease agreements in place by next spring.
Rent for all of the units is pegged at $490 a month.
Each of the two-bedroom apartments will be handicapped accessible, with equipped kitchen, washer and dryer set, ceiling fans and other amenities. All also will have a safe room capable of withstanding the force of an EF-4 tornado.
“There may not be any building left if one hits, but we’ll be able to get you out of there safely,” Dean said.
Work also is progressing on a 2,000-square-foot community room, which will be available for weekly mixers or other social events, Dean said, plus a nearby water retention area — formerly a water hazard when the land was part of a golf course — that will be equipped with a water fountain.