WILKES-BARRE -- Officials broke ground Thursday on what will become a 56-unit affordable housing apartment complex, called Heritage Point Apartments.
Crews plan to build the $13 million complex at the site of the old Wyoming Valley Hospital for low-income, disabled, or elderly residents after the property sat vacant for years.
“It was terrible,” said Mayor Tony George, remembering the problems the empty hospital building created when he served as one of Wilkes-Barre’s finest more than a decade ago. “As a police officer, I had to come and keep clearing out the building. It's remarkable what they're gonna do,” he said.
Crews demolished the hospital in 2014. Now, some people who live near it are excited to see this old vacant property go back on the city's tax rolls. But others think attracting low-income residents could hurt the neighborhood.
“It’s going to bring a change of property values. It's going to bring crime. It's going to bring drugs, out of towners,” said Ed Harkins of Wilkes-Barre.
But the developer insists the new construction will actually improve the area.
“Our experience is that this kind of development in an older community actually brings up property value, actually stabilizes a community," said Michael Carper of the Housing Development Corporation Midatlantic.
The developer also expects that when the project is finished next year, it'll add more than $50,000 to the city's tax rolls.