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November 2006
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Funding announced for two housing projects
By Thomas J. Prohaska, News Niagara Bureau 11/1/2006 LOCKPORT - As the election campaign entered its final week Tuesday, two local members of Congress announced federal funding for new senior citizen housing projects in their districts. Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence, appeared with Roy A. Bernardi, deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to announce almost $6 million to build a 49-unit apartment building on Tonawanda Creek Road in the Town of Lockport. Meanwhile, Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, announced more than $2.8 million for a 24-unit senior housing project in Lewiston. The project will be built by ITC Corp., Slaughter said. The project will be built on Upper Mountain Road next to the existing Lewiston Villa, another 24-unit project owned by ITC. Both projects are funded by the same HUD program, Section 202, providing competitive funding to build housing for low-income senior citizens. The Lockport project is to be built by People Inc., a Williamsville-based not-for-profit agency with a major commitment to senior housing. It already operates 10 such facilities in Western New York and has four more under development besides the one here. Rhonda Frederick, chief operating officer of People Inc., said the agency found out this week it won more than $5.9 million from HUD for the Lockport project. That includes $5.4 million for purchase of the six-acre site just east of Creekview Estates, a privately owned apartment complex, and the construction of the two- or three-story building. Bernardi said the rest will be applied toward rent subsidies for the tenants. "These 49 units are going to go to the people who need them most: low-income Americans, low-income people from the County of Niagara, from Lockport," Bernardi said. Frederick said People Inc. conducted a needs survey and determined Lockport could use one of its housing projects. It is buying the land from Louis Polito, owner of Creekview Estates. People Inc. approached Town Supervisor Marc R. Smith for support in January. Frederick said prospective tenants, age 62 and over, should call her agency at 817-7468 to be placed on a list. Construction will start next spring and last nine to 12 months. Once the project is about four months away from opening, formal applications will be accepted. All the apartments in both projects will be one-bedroom units. The Lockport project will have an extra apartment for a live-in caretaker, and there will also be a manager present during business hours. People Inc. also plans to open a senior citizen housing project next year at Wheatfield-Pendleton Townline Road in Wheatfield and has others planned in Clarence, Cheektowaga and Hamburg. |
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