Senior living residence approved by Sussex council
A planned independent-living residence for up to 95 people age 55 and older on Kings Highway near Lewes was approved Sept. 23 by Sussex County Council.
The applicant is LIC Housing, owned by Adam and Kelly Gelof of Rehoboth Beach, both local attorneys, and their sons, Zack and Jake. They are developing the project with Ocean Atlantic Companies.
“It’s more than just a project or an investment property for us,” Kelly told council during a public hearing that preceded the 5-0 vote to approve a conditional-use application for the AR-1, agricultural-residential, land.
The property at 16770 Kings Hwy. has been in the Gelof family since 1973. Adam grew up there and in Rehoboth Beach, his wife said. The family turned down many offers over the decades to sell or develop the land, Kelly said.
“Our sons are adults and we are a very close family,” she said during the public hearing. “We all love this area and want to make a positive impact here. We and our boys have a shared desire to want to continue the Gelof legacy of giving back to this community.”
Gelof said she wishes she’d had an option like the one planned when her mother experienced respiratory issues in 2013, but there were none in the area.
The Gelofs will continue to own the property after it is constructed, Kelly said after the approval.
Zack and Jake Gelof are Cape Henlopen High School graduates and both play professional baseball. Zack is a second baseman for the Oakland Athletics, and Jake is a third baseman in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system.
Kelly said the couple’s sons have remained active in the community and will be involved in the project.
“They’re excited to be part of it,” she said.
The 120,000-square-foot building will be constructed on a 4.3-acre site on the west side of Kings Highway, less than a quarter-mile southwest of Clay Road.
The building would have a restaurant and a fitness center or physical therapy facility on the ground floor and residences above.
Jon Horner, a lawyer for Ocean Atlantic Companies, said the businesses on the first floor will serve residents of the upper two floors and the public.
The population of the City of Lewes has a median age of 67.3 years, which is increasing, showing a current and growing demand for the housing the project will create, Horner said.
Horner estimated the final aspects of the approval process could take six to eight months. Construction could take another 20 to 22 months.
He told council the project is compatible with nearby land uses, and county and state development plans for the area.
Plans call for preserving 27 acres of mature forest in wetlands on the back of the site, said Zachary Crouch, principal at Davis, Bowen and Friedel Inc., architects, engineers and surveyors.
There will be 194 parking spaces, more than the 115 the code requires, to accommodate vehicles of the independent-living residence and customers of the first-floor businesses.
There are tentative plans for a shared patio on the property line with New Covenant Presbyterian Church next door, Horner said.
Several amenities for residents will be located on the roof because the lot is small, said Preston Schell, president of Ocean Atlantic Companies.
“We are looking at some creative stuff to do with our rooftop,” Schell said.
“This site is really tight, so we want to have some outdoor amenities and community gardens and, believe it or not, we’re proposing to do that on our rooftop and have an area up there for our residents to lounge and have a community garden up there,” Schell said.
An interconnected walking trail at the back of the senior living and church properties would be built at the cost of the developers, he said.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
