The architectural design of a development that will add low-income senior housing to Kent's south side got the OK from the Kent Architecture Review Board.

The four-member board voted unanimously to issue a certificate of appropriateness to Cleveland-baseed NRP Group Tuesday for its project, Maple Brook at Four Seasons, adjacent to KentRidge at Golden Pond just south of S.R. 261.

The development firm is planning to build 69 units specifically for low-income seniors and in April was awarded $1.2 million by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for the project. The housing will be targeted at seniors with a yearly income ranging from $15,000 to $30,000.

Joseph McCabe, project manager for NRP Group, said the project is on track to open by December 2013 pending site plan approval from the Kent Planning Commission.

McCabe said the OHFA has fairly strict guidelines for projects that can often limit the architectural style, but NRP Group invested in the project's landscape and building architecture plans to give the senior housing complex a more attractive look.

NRP Group also owns the Four Seasons at Kent retirement complex. In October, the firm presented a conceptual site plan to members of the planning commission, who expressed support for the project.

Kent architect Doug Fuller, a member of the architecture board, said he thought the design for the new complex turned out well despite the OHFA guidelines.

"I think you've done a very nice job creating something out of very little to work with," he said.