National Church Residences Announces Northland Gate Senior Community Opening

COLUMBUS, Ohio ­– National Church Residences announces the opening of Northland Gate, a new $16 million affordable senior housing community for those ages 55 and older. The three-story, 85,000 square foot community features 94 one- and two-bedroom apartments on a nearly four-acre site located at 5757 Maple Canyon Avenue in the Northland neighborhood. Amenities include free campus Wi-Fi, a fitness center, a community room with a kitchen, an outdoor walking path and an on-site laundry.

“As part of our more than $47 million in investment in the Northland community by the end of 2022, Northland Gate furthers our efforts to provide low income seniors with more housing options in the area,” said Amy Rosenthal, vice president of affordable housing for National Church Residences. “We are excited to celebrate as our residents move into this beautiful new community.”

Each apartment will be adaptable to the needs of residents. Some of the features designed for this purpose involve a wide turn radius in all rooms, grab bars in showers, adjustable-height shelves and easy touch rocker light switches.

The Northland neighborhood has a high concentration of vulnerable seniors facing housing cost burdens and chronic health issues. According to a 2017 report from the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, elderly households make up 38% of low-income, cost-burdened homeowners in Franklin County. As the first in a series of National Church Residences new construction developments in the neighborhood, Northland Gate was designed to address this urgent need for affordable housing.

“It’s important that these projects exist for our aging seniors,” said Emmanuel Remy, Columbus City councilmember. “I don’t think we can say or acknowledge that enough – that the need is imperative and it’s growing rapidly.”

Funding for the community included $11.7 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and $300,000 from the City of Columbus. CREA and First National Bank also were financial partners providing equity and debt. CVS Health and Aetna, a CVS Health company, are an adopted partner of the community. In addition, National Church Residences collaborated with the Northland Community Council, 161 Task Force, Sharon Woods Civic Association, Forest Park Civic Association, and the Northland Area Business Association. The architect was Berardi Partners, and Ruscilli Construction Company was the general contractor.

National Church Residences secured financing to build two additional senior communities in the Northland area. The other new affordable senior communities include $17 million to build Salem Village at 1009 East Dublin Granville Road and $13 million for Bretton Woods at 2511 Bretton Woods Drive. National Church Residences also completed a $2.8 million expansion of the Senior Health Center on East Dublin Granville Road in late spring 2021.

About National Church Residences
National Church Residences serves more than 42,000 seniors through its array of housing and health care services. The not-for-profit organization is driven by a vision of advancing better living for all seniors, enabling them to remain home for life. With 340 communities in 25 states, it is the nation’s largest not-for-profit provider of affordable senior housing and the largest manager of service coordinators. The organization also offers residential senior communities, home and community-based services, as well as permanent supportive housing for the formerly homeless and disabled. For more information, visit us at NationalChurchResidences.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.