Switch to senior housing gets OK

Logan Township gives nod to zoning change for Durbin Companies project in Wehnwood

The Logan Township supervisors Thursday approved a zoning ordinance amendment that will allow the Durbin Companies to develop a $10 million to $12 million cluster of rent-subsidized homes for seniors in Wehnwood.

The amendment allows senior housing developments in R-1 residential zones as a conditional use under "exceptions and special provisions."

"This was crucial," said company partner Scott Durbin after the approval.

There were no comments from the public in a hearing prior to the approval.

The Durbins plan to develop 40 units for people 62 and older on 14 acres on the west side of Penn Avenue between Gwin Road and Lawn Lane.

The tract is part of the companies' existing PennView student housing complex near Penn State Altoona.

To make room, workers will demolish units that currently can accommodate housing for 28 students, including some single homes.

The Durbins are proposing single-story "cottages" in groups of six, connected in a line, according to Scott Durbin.

The proposed project would be phase 1, with a phase 2 that could follow, companies partner Brian Durbin said previously.

The Durbins hope to fund the development with low-income housing tax credits obtained through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

In 2009, the Durbins asked the township supervisors for a zoning change that would have enabled them to construct student housing on the Penn Avenue property, but were not successful, Scott Durbin said.

In retrospect, that is probably fortunate, as the demand for student housing has fallen because of enrollment declines at Penn State Altoona, he conceded.

"Markets change," he said.

The Durbins were re­­quired by the LITC program to conduct a needs study for the senior housing project, and that need in the Altoona area is "sky high," Baldwin said.

The Durbins plan to apply for the phase 1 tax credits in the fall.

They could learn whether they'll receive them early next year, according to Scott Durbin.

Work on the project could begin next spring and would take about six months, he said.

The companies are partnering with HFL Corp. of State College, he said.

HFL would put the project out to bid for construction and manage it, Durbin said.

The LITC program re­­quires owners to retain properties for at least 15 years, according to Reynolds Baldwin, a Durbin partner.

HFL has developed several affordable housing projects in Centre County using PFCA tax credits, according to Durbin and Baldwin.

One of those is Limerock Court, Durbin said.

It was built in 2014 and is "reserved for low- and moderate-income tenants, with apartment rents set at 20%, 50% and 60% of Centre County's average median income levels," according to the HFL website.

The Durbins asked the supervisors last fall to consider the zoning amendment.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.