Hudson Manor hopes to add

on-site convenience store

FREEHOLD — Hudson Manor officials want to make the senior citizens complex at 40 Hudson St. even more convenient for its residents.

Representatives of Hudson Manor are scheduled to appear before the zoning board at its March 28 meeting seeking approval for a proposal that would add a convenience store; a one-story addition to the building’s recreation room; and more parking spaces at the rear of the facility, according to Kerry Higgins, attorney for the Senior Citizens Housing Corp., which oversees the operation.

Hailed as one of the finest senior citizens complexes in the region when it was completed in 1979, Hudson Manor celebrated its 20th anniversary last September with a gala event.

The 164-unit apartment complex for senior citizens and disabled people sits on the site of the borough’s old Hudson Street School, which was razed to make way for the six-story Hudson Manor.

A variance from the zoning board is needed in order for the proposed additions and improvements to be completed because a store is not permitted in that zone and because a portion of the addition to the recreation area will be on property that is currently zoned residential, Higgins said.

The convenience store would be on the ground floor in a kitchen area, she said.

"The kitchen is really not used that much since the apartments in the building have their own kitchens," Higgins said. "That area would be converted into a small convenience store where the residents could buy basic staples" such as bread, milk, eggs and other items that such stores normally carry.

Plans call for a 1,500-square-foot store — 30 by 50 feet — Higgins said. The one-story, 25- by 62-foot addition to the recreation area would be on the west side of the current facility behind the solarium, which is on the Hudson Street side of the building.

Higgins said the proposal also calls for revamping a parking lot along the Center Street side, increasing the number of parking spots from 66 to 86.

In 1979, the $6 million Hudson Manor project was financed through the state House Finance Agency. The rents are determined and subsidized through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Rents are based on a prospective tenant’s income, but no tenant is required to pay more than 39 percent of his or her income. Prospective tenants must be at least 62 years of age, except for qualified disabled people.