The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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March 9, 2010

UPDATE: Housing plans unveiled; apartments to be built on West Hill

By Courtney L. Anderson

SHARON — Construction of a state grant-funded senior housing complex should begin in late spring or early summer on Sharon’s West Hill.

Mercer County Housing Authority Executive Director L. DeWitt Boosel last week shared details of the $3.4 million project with Sharon council members.

The three-story structure will be built off of Water Avenue between Russell and Curtis streets, where the former Russell Street school and apartment building was prior to it burning in March 2004.

“This is an exciting project,” Boosel said, adding that it will be a good revitalization effort for the area.

Boosel and David P. Harris Jr., project architect with Thomas J. Keller Architects, Canfield, Ohio, showed council members a rendering of what the building will look like and proposed floor plans for the 20 apartments.

Harris said the building will have 12 one-bedroom units and eight two-bedroom units. He also said it will blend in with the neighborhood’s other architecture.

Initially, officials wanted to build one-story units, but Boosel said the topography of the site made that too difficult to do within the available budget.

Harris said it should take about 10 months to build and it should be ready for tenants next year. Bids have not been let for the project, Boosel said last week.

The area is now overgrown and abandoned, Boosel said, so the complex will benefit the area, and officials hope it will spur further development.

The authority is in the process of acquiring 13 privately owned properties in the area and one that is owned by the Sharon Redevelopment Authority, Boosel said. Most of them were tax delinquent or abandoned and the space where the new building will be is all empty, he said.

Boosel said they plan to leave the area at the bottom of the hill wooded but want to make it more park-like.

Council Vice President Frank Connelly asked if the authority will be blending “green technology” into the project, and Harris said they can look into it. Boosel said they plan to make the building as energy efficient as possible.

Sharon received the bulk of a $3.7 million grant awarded to Shenango Valley communities from the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Boosel said $300,000 went to Hermitage to rehabilitate and resell homes at cost to low-income families.

The authority will be the developer and owner of the complex for low- to moderate-income people age 55 or older.

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