BEVERLY — One of the country's largest developers of retirement homes wants to build 238 senior citizen apartments in five buildings in the Cherry Hill Industrial Park.

Oregon-based Holiday Retirement hopes to start construction on the $24 million project this fall, according to project manager Melissa Leclerc.

"We build about 20 of these per year around the country," Leclerc said. "Beverly has a need for this sort of housing. It's a great town that we want to be in."

The development would be located at the corner of Conant Street and Cherry Hill Drive in Beverly, near the Danvers line.

The project would come in two phases, according to Leclerc. The developer would first build one four-story building with 118 one-bedroom, two-bedroom and studio suites, she said. The second phase would include three four-story buildings with a total of 120 units.

The buildings would have a common dining room and activity areas, Leclerc said. They are not assisted-living residences, and no medical services would be provided.

The project needs the approval of the Zoning Board of Appeals. A meeting is scheduled for tonight at 7 at the Beverly Public Library.

The land where the development would be built is owned by the Flatley Co., which owns Cherry Hill Industrial Park. Leclerc said Holiday Retirement has an option to buy the land once it acquires all of the permits from city boards.

A spokesman for the Flatley Co. did not return a call seeking comment.

Leclerc would not disclose the rents for the new apartments, but said, "We appeal to a fairly broad range."

"We're not the Cadillac. We're more of a Buick," she said. "Typically, our resident is a retired schoolteacher in her early 80s."

Holiday Retirement has more than 300 locations in the United States and Canada, according to its Web site. It just opened a development in East Longmeadow and has projects under construction in Derry, N.H., and Kittery, Maine.

"We have someone who scouts around the country for markets like Beverly," Leclerc said.