Westmoreland housing authority gets funding for Rostraver senior apartments

Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials said construction of a new 50-unit apartment building for low-income seniors in Rostraver could begin as soon as next summer.

The authority awarded federal tax credits valued at about $15 million last week to pay for what will be the agency’s fifth major construction project in the last dozen years.

The development is slated to be built on 6 acres the authority purchased for $600,000 earlier this year in Rostraver, on Route 51 adjacent to Willowbrook Plaza. The plaza includes a grocery store, bank, fitness center and the Penn Highlands Mon Valley HealthPlex, among other businesses.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency awarded the housing authority with tax credits that will be sold off to finance construction of the four-story apartment complex called Willowbrook Commons. That sale is expected to raise most of the funds needed to build the complex, said housing authority Executive Director Michael Washowich.

“There is a demonstrated need for this. What we’re trying to do is look at areas that are underserved and this development will be a valuable asset,” Washowich said.

Westmoreland County is expected to contribute a $1.3 million loan for the project, and the authority will kick in another $365,000 toward construction costs, Washowich said.

According to recent reports from the U.S. Census Bureau, Rostraver has a population of about 15,300. About 27% of those residents are 62 and older.

“This is a tremendous day for WCHA and the seniors who will one day reside in Willowbrook Commons,” housing authority board Chairman Bob Regola said in a statement.

Rostraver officials did not respond to a request for comment.

After decades without any new construction, Willowbrook Commons will be the fifth new housing community erected by the authority since 2012.

South Greengate Commons, a 50-unit, low-income senior apartment building in Hempfield, was opened in 2013. A sister building next door, Odin View Apartments, was completed in 2020.

Grand View Senior Residences, a $15 million four-story, 50-unit apartment building for low-income seniors, opened last year in Irwin. Washowich said about 200 people remain on the waiting list seeking occupancy in the building. Plans are ongoing to build nine additional single-family cottages at that site and another 38 homes for seniors on adjacent property in North Huntingdon.

The housing authority this summer broke ground on Church View Senior Residences, a $5.3 million project to build 20 townhouses for low-income seniors in Mt. Pleasant Township.

Plans are also underway to demolish as many as 86 outdated townhomes at the authority’s Park Manor community in Monessen and replace them with up to 50 modern units, Washowich said.