Irwin senior housing project approved for funding; construction set to begin in 2022

Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials expect construction of a new 50-unit apartment building for low-income seniors to begin next year in Irwin and the doors of the proposed four-story facility to open in early 2024.

“There is a tremendous need for this. We have long waiting lists in all of our communities,” authority Executive Director Michael Washowich said.

The final funding piece for what is being called the Grand View Senior Residences was announced Thursday afternoon by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. The project has been in the planning stages since 2016, when the authority purchased the 17-acre property on Laurel Avenue behind the Norwin Library near Route 30.

Most of the project costs will be paid for through $10 million in federal tax credits awarded to the housing authority and purchased by private investors. The remaining funding was secured through a $2 million low-interest loan and a $1.5 million contribution from Westmoreland County, Washowich said.

Once completed, the building will feature 50 one- and two-bedroom apartments for residents ages 62 and older, including about eight to 10 units set aside for veterans.

It will be the authority’s third new construction project in the last decade, joining South Greengate Commons in Hempfield, which opened in 2014, and its adjoining sister facility, Odin View Apartments, that was completed last year. Washowich said more than 300 people are waiting for openings in each of those buildings.

“Our senior population continues to grow and we as an authority have made it a priority to build new facilities. These projects are critical to provide an opportunity for seniors to have quality places to live,” Washowich said.

In all, the housing authority operates more than 2,500 units in 36 different communities throughout the county.

The proposed Grand View project would be the first of two facilities to be built at the Irwin area site. Officials said the authority has preliminary plans to build single family cottages for seniors on a portion of the same property that stretches into North Huntingdon.

The authority also has had preliminary discussions about a project to build cottages on a 2-acre site in Norvelt donated to the agency last year by the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg.