Developer Jeff Long is planning yet another project in the vicinity of his Graystone Grande Palazzo senior living facility.

He is currently building a nine-story addition across Eighth Avenue to create 195 independent living units, along with a parking garage.

Following that, Long intends to build a five-story, $5 million to $6 million mixed-use structure across Seventh Avenue, with commercial space on the first floor and 72 apartments above, he said Wednesday.

Residential rentals for the 60,000-square-foot building would be market-rate, although he’s not sure whether they would be limited to tenants 55 and older, as they are with his Graystone properties, he said.

He hopes to begin work on that project next spring and take a year and a half to finish, he said.

He will be building on property he recently purchased from the Durbin family, according to Long and Brian Durbin.

The Durbins had planned to construct a 27-unit rental complex with townhomes and duplexes on the site, which is on the 2500 block of Seventh Avenue, but COVID-related supply chain issues and construction cost inflation led the family to back off, Durbin said.

“We can’t build something that we feel will not carry itself at the current economic numbers,” Durbin said, referring to probable rental income versus debt service on development loans.

“We probably could have hung on to it for a couple more years,” Durbin said.

But Long “needed it for his growth over there,” so the family sold the property, Durbin said.

“We don’t want to inhibit growth,” Durbin said. “For us to sit and be a roadblock wouldn’t make sense.”

Long’s immediate need was for parking for workers constructing the Grande Palazzo addition, which Long plans to call Bella Casa, according to Durbin, Long and officials at an Altoona Planning Commission meeting this week.

The Bella Casa is being built on a large parking lot where plenty of spaces were previously available, but wouldn’t be during construction, Durbin said.

When the parking garage connected to Bella Casa is done, however, the parking situation in that area will be secure, according to Long.

For the Durbins, the supply chain problems and inflation created the “perfect storm for trying to build something of that size,” Durbin said.

It created an unacceptable risk, he said.

Increased fuel costs mean increased costs for virtually all materials, and supply chain delays further aggravate the problem, according to Durbin.

The supply chain situation and the high costs of material have led to “a struggle” for Long as well, Long said.

But “I’ve got to keep my guys busy,” he said. “I can’t stop.”

Jeff Long Construction employs 35 and works only on Long’s projects.

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