Jun 12, 2014 3 min read

WAYNEBSURG – A project for construction of a four-story apartment building for seniors at the corner of High and East streets in Waynesburg was awarded $878,050 in federal tax credits from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

The project was announced by PIRHL Developers LLC of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, in September 2012. The awarding of the tax credits, the developer said earlier, is necessary to complete financing for the estimated $10 million project.

PIRHL proposes to construct the apartment building, called Gateway Senior Housing, on the north side of High Street, between High and Nazer streets.

The developer planned to purchase four lots and demolish the existing buildings at the site, including storage units, a single-family house and a house previously used as offices by the late Dr. Stanley Fowler.

The building will contain 52 one- and two-bedroom apartments and a large community room. It will be for independent seniors, ages 62 or older, whose income is about 60 percent or less of the medium income for the county.

David Burg, a principal of PIRHL, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Robbie Matesic, executive director of the county’s Department of Economic Development, commended Burg and his company for its persistence in regard to the project.

“We have been working toward this day for a decade,” Matesic said, speaking about efforts to attract projects to the county that could provide housing for seniors.

“There has been an enormous consensus for the need for this,” she said.

State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, said approval of the tax credits by PHFA puts the project on track to completion.

“A lot of people have put much time and effort toward improving housing for seniors in Greene County, and today’s financing arrangement is great news,” she said.

“The tax credits not only make the project do-able, but they also make the rents affordable and will produce long-lasting dividends for Waynesburg and Greene County,” she said.

The project will help to create affordable housing alternatives for seniors who have low or moderate incomes, state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, said. “There is a critical need for this type of housing and the approval of the tax credits helps leverage investments that are critical to the developments,” he said.

The project received the necessary zoning permits from the Waynesburg Borough Zoning Hearing Board in October 2012. Waynesburg Borough council also showed its support for the project then by agreeing to contribute $10,000 a year to it for five years.

PIRHL had applied for the tax credits last year but failed to receive them. Burg said then, however, that the company was not giving up and would apply for the credits again this year.

Scott Elliott, director of communications for PHFA, said this year 74 projects were submitted for tax credits but only 24 received awards. The program is very competitive and it’s not unusual for developers to apply for the credits in successive years, he said.

PHFA works to provide affordable home ownership and rental housing for older adults, low- and moderate-income families and people with special housing needs. Its programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities, not by public tax dollars.

Since its creation in 1972, PHFA has generated $11.2 billion of funding for more than 152,900 single-family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 122,590 rental units and saved the homes of nearly 46,700 families from foreclosure, according to the agency.