State denies grant for Woda project
A project to turn the former Pullman-Standard office building into apartment housing for seniors has failed to get a state grant, the prospective developer said Tuesday.
Andy Cohen of Ohio-based developer The Woda Group said that the organization did not receive a grant from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
Woda had been counting on the competitive grant program, which awards grants to about one quarter of program applicants, to help fund the $14 million project to renovate the building.
Cohen said the housing agency did not say why it rejected a grant for the project, and that the agency does not disclose such information over the phone. Woda will have to have a meeting with state officials in mid-September to find out why its application fell short.
Cohen said that until Woda knows more about the state’s decision, it is unclear whether it will continue to pursue funding for a project at the landmark building on Hansen Avenue.
“We will be doing a follow-up meeting ... and until we have that meeting and digest information from the meeting, we won’t know if the project will go forward,” Cohen said. “We do know that it scored well, but it just wasn’t competitive enough.”
Joseph McCabe, a vice president with Woda, told Butler City Council members in February that the company’s proposal would turn the Pullman-Standard building into a 62-unit apartment complex that would cater to residents ages 62 and older. The apartments would be a mix of one- and two-bedroom residences.
Woda has a “binding option” on the property, but doesn’t own the Pullman-Standard building. It is owned by Sumner McDanel of Penn Township, and has been vacant for more than 30 years.
Pullman-Standard, which manufactured freight rail cars, closed in February 1982.
McCabe said in February that Woda would seek to use federal and state tax credits to restore the building to its original 1918 condition, and give it National Register Landmark status.
