A affordable apartment complex is coming to the Town of Hamburg, bringing 84 new mixed-income units of senior and workforce housing to a vacant site along Rogers Road and Southwestern Boulevard.
People Inc. – the region's largest nonprofit social services agency and a major provider of affordable housing – plans to construct a pair of three-story buildings on a property near Walmart, south of Camp Road.
The project will include 35 apartments in a senior building designated for those aged 55 years and older, and 49 units in a multifamily building designated for those 18 years and older, according to a project summary from the agency.
Those include 67 one-bedroom units - one of which is a superintendent's apartment - and 17 two-bedroom apartments. There is also a large community room with a small kitchen and on-site laundry facilities in each building.
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Twelve of the one-bedroom apartments in the second building – or 25% – will be reserved for individuals with developmental disabilities who can live independently, but they will be dispersed throughout the building, the agency said. People Inc. will work with the state Office of People with Developmental Disabilities to obtain referrals, as well as receive supportive services and rental subsidies.
In the senior building, People Inc. said seven of the one-bedroom units – or 20% – will be set aside for frail or elderly seniors with an "unmet housing need," with rental subsidies and operational funding coming from the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative.
The apartments are targeted at households earning between 50% and 60% of the area median income, which for a family of four in Erie County is $78,900. So the current maximum income ranges for the project would range from $27,650 to $37,920 for a one-bedroom unit and $35,550 to $42,660 for a two-bedroom apartment. Rents will range from $680 to $1,050 per month, plus $60 in utilities for one-bedroom units and $75 for two-bedroom apartments.
Designed by Long Associates and built by Creative Structures Services, the project will also feature "ample green space and landscaped courtyards with seating," as well as off-street parking, gardens for tenants to plant, and a bocce ball court, according to the project summary. The site is located close to retail shops and services, with quick access to both Route 5 and U.S. 20, and a Metro bus route along Camp Road.
The proposal by People Community Housing Development Corp. was approved by the Hamburg Planning Board on Wednesday, so the nonprofit agency can now apply for state funding this November or December, with hopes of receiving an award in May or June 2023 so that work can begin in fall 2023.
The project will be funded with 9% low-income housing tax credits from New York State Homes and Community Renewal, as well as additional financing from the state Supportive Housing Opportunity Program and a traditional mortgage. It's expected to be completed after 18 months of construction, with leasing in April or May 2025.
This is the latest housing project by People Inc., which also built a pair of apartment buildings on Jefferson Avenue in East Buffalo and a senior apartment building on Linwood Avenue near Gates Circle, among others. It's also planning to convert the MH Building of the former Women & Children's Hospital on 140 Hodge St., in the Elmwood Village, into affordable housing.