The resolution passed unanimously Tuesday was a prerequisite for the state financing that will be used by J. Kirby Development LLC to construct Clopper Mill Manor Apartments at 18003 Mateny Drive, next to the Mobil gas station. The $12.6 million project will use bonds, state tax credits and a county loan. The 102-unit complex will include 81 units for affordable senior housing and 21 that will be rented at market prices. The units will be available to heads of household 62 and older.

Jeffrey C. Kirby, who has received approval to build senior complexes in Olney and Silver Spring in recent years, said he hopes to begin about 12 months of construction on the 2.75 acre site in late July. "We always try to do a quality building we'd want to live in or have our parents live in," he said.

Germantown has long been perceived as an enclave of largely young families living in the townhouses that make up 47 percent of its housing stock -- the highest percentage among county communities.

The area's first senior housing project, Churchill Senior Living, opened in 2001 to a warm welcome but Nancy Hislop, the county's Germantown outreach coordinator, said the complex couldn't be all things to all people.

"I would say Churchill probably doesn't fill the need for some seniors because they need more assisted living," she said. "That is the need that I would say is not filled in this area."

Churchill's rental office said they often receive calls looking for housing although the complex currently has no vacancies.

After four years of advocating for senior issues, especially housing, as a member of the Upcounty Citizens Advisory Board, Christina Brown of Germantown put her townhouse on the market Friday and plans to move to a large condo in North Carolina.

"One of the biggest reasons I'm going out of this area is to find somewhere affordable for someone retired, which is hard to find in Montgomery County," she said. Brown, 64, said she was glad to hear of the Kirby development but said the area needs more mid-level housing for seniors.

Brown said she toured Churchill when it opened and spent a year looking for a single floor home as her three-story townhouse became more problematic but says most senior housing in the county is either too cramped for a "young senior" like herself or too expensive.

"I would like to see things that mirror a little more what people are used to -- that wouldn't be such a big change," she said. "For people just entering that [senior] phase like me, my life is still a little more active than that -- I may still want to entertain, to have my family for Thanksgiving."

Kirby said plans for the Clopper Mill apartment building, which is expected to appear before the Montgomery County Planning Board July 8, include 16 single bedroom units and 86 with two bedrooms for residents who want a place for grandchildren to visit or have recently left a larger home. The 81 affordable units will have both income and rent restrictions. The building will have a stone veneer and security measures that include pass cards for all residents and cameras that will monitor the doors and allow residents to see what visitors they allow to enter, he said.

The building will also include amenities aimed at the senior lifestyle such as a library, craft rooms and "a health room for visiting physicians, wellness/health screenings, blood pressure," Kirby said. "We put lots of amenities on the lower levels to encourage residents to come out of their apartments."

Residents of Clopper Mill will live independently but Kirby said employees will be knowledgeable about services such as Ride-On bus service or housekeeping. "As a person ages in place our staff can put them in touch with services kind of a la carte like Meals on Wheels or other services," he said.

As she arranged real estate agent visits and found a temporary home for her cat, Brown admitted she didn't know the answer to the area's housing crunch, which she recognized is far from a solely senior issue.

"The people coming in droves are the young up-and-comers," she said. "It's not a place for people to retire ... it may never [be] and that's fine, but there still needs to be more awareness that that are people here who fall in that [senior] category."