Median affordable housing project in Erie sees high demand in first minutes of application opening

On the Town of Erie's 150th anniversary, town officials launched applications for its first median affordable housing program. Within the first few minutes of applications opening, they already saw more applicants than the number of homes available to sell.

This program aims to make living in Erie more affordable for people who work there through a median-income housing project. Cheesman Street Residence homes are expected to be in the $300K to $400K range, which is about half the current median price for homes in Erie, (right now at about $770,000). The project for 35 affordable units comes from a partnership with the town of Erie and the development group Vertikal.

As a managing partner with Vertikal, Walker Thrash has been working on the Cheesman Street Residences for the last two years.

"It's important for us to work on things within our own neighborhoods and towns that are a public benefit," Thrash said, "because everybody's looking at it on the table right now trying to figure out, really, how do we deliver this type of product?"

Thrash credited the reality of this affordable project to funding and partnership from the town, state, and other organizations and grants. "In the most sought-after towns and cities, that middle is disappearing faster, and that's where we are in Erie right now. So for us, it's important to try to develop a model with the town of, how can we tackle this problem?" Thrash said.

In the last 10 years, the town reports more than 10,000 people having moved there.

Gabbi Rae with the Town of Erie says this project is to adapt to that growing population. "As we grow, we need more commercial space, retail, we need restaurants, we need all those sorts of things, but we also need people to work there, And we'd love those people to live here. So having some more affordable places to live, to buy their homes and be in our community is ideal for the people who can work in those spaces," she said.

Those who are eligible for the units earn a total of 60% to 120% of the median income in Erie. For a family of four, that ranges from just about $90,000 to $175,000 a year, with exact numbers on the town's website.

Rae says, this is just part of a larger goal "We're trying to reach 12% affordable housing units in the city, and this really is a big step in helping us get there," she said, "before these are built, we're at less than 1%. We have very, very little affordability for purchase."

While the town already has more than 50 applications for 35 units, people can still apply to show interest as Vertikal is expecting to work on another affordable project soon in a nearby city.

Homes are still in the early construction stages, but applicants could be selected as soon as next month, with move-in in the middle of next year.