Old Saybrook - The waiting list for subsidized housing at Saye Brooke Village, the sole senior housing complex in town, is at least 80 people long and currently closed to new applicants, according to property administrator Kathleen Koch.

So Koch is enthusiastic about the prospect of having additional units to rent out to senior citizens ages 60 or older.

Old Saybrook Senior Housing, the nonprofit that runs the 50-unit senior housing complex at 55 Sheffield St., plans to expand by 14 to 16 units by purchasing a single-family house next door, according to Senior Housing board president Philip M. Einsmann. The nonprofit will likely demolish that house and build a two-story complex for the additional units, he said.

"There's a huge need," Koch said.

In cooperation with the town's Board of Selectmen, the nonprofit is working to secure a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to make the expansion possible.

HUD subsidizes 36 of the 50 units in the complex, Einsmann said, while the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) finances the remaining 14 units. The waiting list for the CHFA units, which is run by Old Saybrook Senior Housing under the name Elderly Housing Development Corp., is about 30 people long, Koch said.

"If you are one of those who had to endure many months - or years - of being on the 'waiting list' for your home, we know you understand, as we do, the need for additional, quality senior housing in our town," Einsmann and First Selectman Michael Pace wrote in a joint letter to residents dated Oct. 8.

Saye Brooke Village is a popular housing complex for seniors because of its convenient location. Right off Main Street, residents can walk to restaurants, shops and the senior center, Koch said.

"People don't really need a car," Koch said. "They can walk to grocery stores. … A lot of my residents actually go (to the senior center) every day for lunch. They go there for classes and programs."

The town has a history of helping different segments of the population by securing grants and partnering with nonprofits, Pace said. Most recently, the town used a $50,000 state grant to develop plans for a 14- to 16-unit affordable-housing complex that the nonprofit HOPE Partnership will build on town-owned land at 45 Ferry Road.

Pace has offered to offset 50 percent of Saye Brooke Village's expected property taxes upon expansion to make the project more affordable and keep rents low. The Board of Selectmen also plans to waive the project's building-permit fees, Pace said.

"I'm a believer that the strength of a town is to have an eclectic population in economics and in age as well as in race," Pace said. "You show me a town that doesn't respect its elderly, and I'm going to show you a town that really loses on the vitality of experience."

j.cho@theday.com