$20 Million Upgrade On Tap For Towers

When winds blow in from the Sound, windows sometimes pop open at the Towers senior complex. Now $20 million is blowing in to replace windows, roofs, and HVAC systems.

The $20 million comes from a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), which supports climate resilience and utility efficiency upgrades.

Officials announced the grant at a press conference Tuesday at the Towers, near downtown at Tower Lane. 

“This building has good bones. It just needs a little work,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said. ​“Like we all do as we approach a certain age.”

Norman Feitelson, a 99-year-old Towers resident, applauded the grant. ​“They’re doing a wonderful job,” Feitelman said. ​“It will be a long, long process, but we’re getting there.”

Towers CEO Gus Keach-Longo said a HUD consultant will do a full assessment of which needed repairs to prioritize in the upcoming work, which could include a new elevator. The target completion date is late 2028.

The funding comes as part of the 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act. HUD expects to spend $544 million on 12,600 units nationwide through the GRRP.

HUD Regional Administrator Juana Matias spoke Tuesday of ​“the need for creative solutions, both building and most importantly preserving our housing stock. And that’s what we’re doing right now.”

Mayor Justin Elicker emphasized the city’s overall efforts at enhancing environmental sustainability. He pointed to the implementation of bioswales, an electronic garbage truck, and heat pump-based technologies.

The Towers, built in 1971, were one of the first senior assisted-living complexes country and, according to Keach-Longo, one of the first to offer a dining program. Plans are underway to build a third tower at the complex.

“I think about how each generation is responsible for preparing for the next,” Keach-Longo said. ​“You know how we say that we plant a tree that you may sit under? That’s what we do here. We are actually sitting under the trees that prior generations have planted for us.”