Housing authority expects strong interest in Irwin senior residences

The Westmoreland County Housing Authority will soon be able to gauge interest from seniors who want to live in the 50-unit apartment building set to open in Irwin next year.

Senior citizens age 62 and older will have the opportunity to learn about living in Grand View Senior Residences, a four-story independent living community off Caruthers Lane and Laurel Avenue, during an informational meeting the authority will hold from 6 to 7 p.m. May 15 at the North Huntingdon Town House, 11279 Center Highway.

“We’re anticipating lot of interest” from people wanting to live there, said Michael Washowich, executive director of the county housing authority.

The building will be open to income-eligible residents from throughout the county, authority officials have said.

Washowich said he believes that Grand View Senior Residences will be as popular with senior citizens as South Greengate Commons, a senior housing building along South Greengate Road in Hempfield. The authority has a waiting list of 150 people who want to live there, Washowich said.

Grand View will have 46 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments. The site will have a walking trail, fenced-in dog park, community garden and bus stop for service by the Westmoreland County Transit Authority, housing officials have said.

The housing authority will begin accepting applications from senior citizens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 31 and June 1 at the Norwin Public Library, 100 Caruthers Lane, Irwin. Applications also will be available at the housing authority office, 167 South Greengate Road, Hempfield.

The authority will take phone calls beginning May 16 at its office, 724-552-2254, for those who want to make an appointment to file an in-person application. Applications will be mailed to interested residents starting May 31.

Washowich said the authority will take applications this spring to allow prospective residents to make preparations to leave their current homes and take the necessary steps if they are leasing their residence.

As it makes plans for the public meeting, equipment is moving earth in anticipation of creating a 1,300-foot-long access road from Laurel Avenue, the building site and an emergency exit through a parking lot at the adjacent Villages of Easton in Irwin. Site preparation will continue for about three more weeks, Washowich said, then construction will begin on the concrete pad for the building.

The public meeting will be only for those people who want information about living in the apartment building, Washowich said.

The housing authority’s plans for the building were opposed by those living along Caruthers Lane and Laurel Avenue near the proposed site, and by property owners along Deerfield Drive, whose backyards are on a hillside that overlooks the apartment building site. Those opponents voiced their concerns to officials in both Irwin and North Huntingdon, but could not stop the project from getting approvals from the municipalities last year.

Related:

• Site prep work begins on senior housing project in Irwin

• Financing wrapped up for new Irwin senior apartments

• North Huntingdon officials oppose senior project county housing authority wants to build in Irwin