A public information session and public hearing have been scheduled for the Sanborn Square affordable housing development.
The public information session will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Sanborn Fire Hall at 5811 Buffalo St., featuring a Q&A session with representatives from developers Park Grove Realty.
The public hearing will be at the next Lewiston Planning Board meeting, happening at 6:30 p.m. on June 18 at town hall. Park Grove reps presented the project at the board’s May meeting but planners held off on making a decision on the project until their June meeting.
If the planners approve it, then Park Grove would have to go to the Lewiston Town Board for final approvals, which would involve another public hearing.
The $20 million to $23 million Sanborn Square would have 50 total apartments across five buildings, each with 5,500 square feet of space and the units ranging from one-, two-, and three-bedrooms. It would take up seven acres of empty land at 2835 Saunders Settlement Road.
They are meant to be workforce housing for those earning up to $66,000 per year, with Park Grove owning and managing the property and having a thorough application process. Rent would be between $600 and $1,500 per month.
The site would also have a 2,292-square-foot clubhouse with a fitness room, a playground, laundry facilities, and sidewalks. Its entrance would be at the intersection of Saunders Settlement Road and Buffalo Street.
This would be Park Grove’s first Niagara County development, modeled after the recently completed $25 million Riley Brook Apartments in Hamburg. Other WNY projects they completed include the Iroquois Lofts in Buffalo, Creekside Village in Tonawanda, and Silver Creek Senior Housing in Silver Creek.
Other Park Grove developments are in Rochester, Elmira, Ithaca, Auburn, Long Island, New Jersey, and North Carolina.
Park Grove received $6.2 million worth of various state low-income housing tax credits earlier this year.
The Niagara County Planning Board gave its support at its May meeting. If it gets all approvals, construction would start before the end of the year, taking 15 to 16 months to complete.