WESTBROOK – Builders are putting the finishing touches on what will soon be Westbrook’s newest housing marketed to independent senior citizens in the area.

Spring Crossing, at 19 Ash St., just off Main Street, has passed all fire and code enforcement inspections, according to the city planning office. Now, John Gallagher, executive director of Westbrook Housing, which built and will manage the property, said he expects Spring Crossing to receive its certificate of occupancy by the end of May. The first residents, he said, are likely to move in starting in June.

“This is one people will want, because of the view,” said Gallagher Monday, standing in front of the living room window on one unit. Outside, the Presumpscot River snaked by below, with a view of Bridge Street crossing over it and the Disability RMS building on the other side.

The brand-new, 32,000-square-foot building will have 34 total units. Most of them will be one-bedroom, apartment-style units, with three two-bedroom units Gallagher said would likely be rented by couples. Census data suggests that there will be plenty of demand for such housing in Westbrook in years to come, according to one state official.

Many of the units, he said, will be accessible to those with disabilities. In one such unit, Gallagher demonstrated how residents could easily have kitchen cabinets removed to allow wheelchair-bound residents to get to the countertops. In that same unit, knobs to operate the stove were on the front, rather than behind the burners like on an ordinary stove. All the units, Gallagher said, feature safety rails and seats in the bathrooms, and fire alarms with audible and visual cues.

Several community rooms will offer other things for residents to do, too. Those who don’t want to take advantage of free wireless Internet service may use one of two computers in a common room in the building. In that same room, Gallagher said, card tables will be set up.

There will also be another common room available for light exercise, including Nintendo Wii video games, and other stretching and exercise programs offered by an activities coordinator hired by Westbrook Housing, Gallagher said. That coordinator, Gallagher said, will also set up bus trips to Portland and the surrounding areas

Keith Luke, Westbrook’s economic and community development director, said he hopes the increase in residents who live within steps of downtown will offer the boost businesses need.

“We can’t have the vibrant downtown that people want unless we increase that pedestrian traffic,” he said.

More foot traffic in the area, Luke said, will encourage retail and other businesses to move in.

Westbrook Housing broke ground on the property in July 2010. Initially, Gallagher said, the plan had been to build riverfront condos, but the recent housing market bust forced a change. Gallagher said Westbrook Housing decided on independent senior housing after several focus groups convinced him there was a need. So far, about 70 people have expressed interest, he said.

All applicants, he said, will be screened to ensure they meet certain guidelines. Among them, he said, applicants must be 55 years old or older, with an income between $25,500 and $34,980. Gallagher said the ideal tenants would be people who are retired or about to retire, and who own their own home but are looking to move out.

Applicants who have medical problems are welcome too, but Gallagher said the building does not offer medical services. A resident services coordinator, he said, can help residents get access to outside services such as Visiting Nurses. The building also offers general housekeeping services.

According to a release from Westbrook Housing, Spring Crossing is the first senior-designated building since 2003, when Westbrook Housing rehabbed the former Westbrook High School into Presumpscot Commons, a 29-unit building.

There are six other facilities geared toward senior citizens in Westbrook, and that number may grow in the coming years, according to Larry Gross, executive director of Southern Maine Agency on Aging.

“It’s a trend that’s happening across the country,” he said.

This year marks the first year that members of the baby boomer generation are reaching age 65. Gross said census data shows 39,229 people in Cumberland County age 65 or older in 2008, or about 14 percent of the county’s population.

By 2020, Gross said, there will be a projected 62,022 people age 65 or older in the county, or 20.5 percent of the population – about 1 in 5 people. By 2020, he said, Maine is expected to have the second-highest 65-plus population nationwide, next to Florida.

That will translate into a surge in urban populations, he said. In the 1960s and ’70s, Gross said, there was an exodus of younger baby boomers moving out to the suburbs to settle down and raise children. In the ’90s, that population was getting older, and their children were growing up. Today, Gross said, those same boomers are now interested in selling the high-maintenance homes they are living in and moving to places where they can walk or take public transportation to wherever they need to go.

“Apartment living or condominium living gives (them) a lot less to deal with,” Gross said.

Living in a more densely populated area, Gross said, also gives seniors a sense of community.

“You want to have some of that built-in support (they) once had,” he said.

Gallagher said the building was paid for with a $3.5 million loan. Westbrook Housing is seeking corporate investment to help pay off the loan, in exchange for tax credits. Rents, which will range from $678 to $978, will pay for operating expenses, he said. Rents are controlled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Gallagher said Westbrook Housing is planning an open house at Spring Crossing on Friday, June 3, at 1 p.m., and tours will be available during Westbrook Together Days, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 4.

Westbrook Housing Executive Director John Gallagher shows off a view of the Presumpscot River seen from the living room window of a unit of the new Spring Crossing Senior Housing in Westbrook. (Staff photo by Sean Murphy)