Development progresses
BUTLER TWP — A 50-unit, townhouse-style housing development near North Duffy Road’s intersection with Route 422 is ahead of schedule and expected to be done in late summer, according to the project’s developer.
Andy Cohen, a project manager with The Woda Group, which is building the development and will manage it after construction is complete, said most of the site work on the 11 acres is complete, and two of the development’s eight buildings have been fully roofed.
The development, Thompson Greene, which Cohen expected to be completely leased by the end of 2016, will include 30 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom townhouses with garages.
The development will include a half court basketball court, a playground and trails for walking and biking.
It also will have a common building with laundry facilities and a maintenance and site manager’s office.
Cohen said the project is ahead of schedule because of generally good weather and good site management by general contractor Woda Construction.
The development, which is being built under the federal low-income tax credit program, will be available to renters who make from 20 percent to 60 percent of the area’s median income, Cohen said.
The company has previously said that amounts to $19,000 to $30,000 per year.
“This is workforce housing,” Cohen said. “Generally speaking, you have to be working to live in this housing.”
Last January, township officials heard from a number of residents upset with the plan, claiming that it would harm their property values, bring crime to the area and create increased traffic and water runoff.
Cohen said the company built a stockade-style wood fence around the development at the request of neighbors and believes the project will prove an asset to the area.
“We’re very happy to be providing this project for the Butler community, and we look forward to it being an asset to the neighborhood and Butler County.”
Cohen said the company would begin seeking leaseholders several months before construction is done.
