Westmoreland housing authority's newest apartment building set to open in July

The first tenants at the Westmore- land County Housing Authority’s newest community are expected to move to their new homes next month.

Officials confirmed this week that construction of Grand View Senior Residences in Irwin is set to wrap up in July.

“We’re more than 90% complete, and we’re looking to occupy the building July 13. There are 50 to 60 workers on-site right now,” said Erik Spiegel, the authority’s director of architecture and engineering services.

The authority broke ground on the $14 million, 50-unit, four-story apartment complex near the intersection of Laurel Avenue and Caruthers Lane last year. The complex sits on a 15-acre site that spans both Irwin and North Huntingdon south of Route 30 and will cater to low-income seniors. Eight apartments will be dedicated to veterans, according to authority Executive Director Michael Washowich.

About 250 prospective tenants are on a waiting list for apartments. Officials said the authority is vetting applications to rent the units.

With the need for potential residents to sell their homes or terminate a lease on their current residence, Washowich said he believes the building might not be fully occupied until fall.

When plans for the project were unveiled in 2021, it drew opposition from residents in North Huntingdon near the site along Laurel Drive and those living along Deerfield Drive on the hillside above the housing authority property containing the 1,300-foot access road from Laurel Drive. The building sits on authority property below a hillside containing part of the Villages of Easton apartment complex.

A group of North Huntingdon residents, including township Commissioner Zachary Haigis and his parents, expressed their concerns at a March 2021 meeting in Irwin about the project. They said the apartment building would create additional traffic along Caruthers Lane, where part of the embankment at the road’s edge slid down the hillside near the Norwin Public Library. Irwin officials approved the project in April 2022, despite the opposition.

The project drew support, however, from potential residents who packed a meeting at the North Huntingdon Town House in May 2023 when housing authority officials outlined details of the project for income-eligible residents.

Now that it is built, Darrel Zezzo of Deerfield Drive said he does not see a problem with the project, other than the authority clear cut a wooded area behind his property that deer and other wildlife used as their habitat.

“There’s going to be people living in there who deserve it. It’s all good,” Zezzo said.

The authority operates more than 2,500 housing units throughout Westmoreland County.

Meanwhile, plans are moving forward on the project’s second phase, where it is expected the authority will build 36 patio homes on the North Huntingdon side of the property. Construction plans and permitting are expected to ramp up later this year, with construction anticipated to begin in 2025.

Final cost estimates for the project have not yet been determined, officials said.

“Our goal is to get a financing plan in place and to start construction,” Washowich said.

Washowich suggested the authority could target low-income residents 55 or older for the patio homes.