Former school now set to become seniors housing
LOS ANGELES: Another school is now being readied for housing low income seniors over the age of 55.
For more than 80 years, the all-girls Villa Maria Academy provided a Catholic high school education in Cheektowaga.
Now, the six-story former school building is home to 67 new apartments for seniors over the age of 55, after a $22.8 million transformation by a pair of affordable housing developers.
Angela’s House opened last month, designed to provide new housing options in the town for lower-income seniors, while reusing a historic school building that has been vacant for over 17 years.
It’s a culmination of a long effort by Delta Development of Western New York that began soon after the school was closed in 2006 but only gained traction in the last four years, after Delta teamed up with CB-Emmanuel Realty.
“Affordable housing is an integral component of vibrant communities,” said James F. Lonergan, interim executive director of Delta Development, which is affiliated with Catholic Charities.
Located in a renovated wing of the much larger Villa Maria Motherhouse Complex that is still owned by the Felician Sisters of St. Francis, the 85,000-square-foot facility at 590 Doat St. offers 65 one-bedroom and two two-bedroom apartments of 666 to 739 square feet, aimed at tenants earning no more than 50% or 60% of the area median income. Rents are $596 and $730 per month, including utilities.
That’s well under the starting rate at many new apartments in the area. “We hear that, in this area, new apartments are renting for $1,000 per month, so it’s very affordable,” Lonergan said.
Seven of the apartments are for mobility-impaired tenants, and 21 are reserved for frail and elderly seniors and those experiencing homelessness, who will pay no more than 30% of their income.
Those apartments – which are subsidized through ongoing funding from the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative – will include supportive services provided through Catholic Charities of Buffalo, such as case management, nursing services and transportation.
The building features original or replica hardwood floors and other elements of the old school, including some “dummy doors” that had to be retained for historic preservation but don’t lead anywhere.
The apartments occupy one of three wings of the bigger E-shaped complex of more than 204,000 square feet, which still includes the convent for the Sisters at the opposite end and the chapel in the middle. Those areas are separated from the apartments by a locked door, although some amenities and common areas are shared. Approximately 80 nuns still live in the building, which is adjacent to Villa Maria College.
“It’s a little funky. They own the shell, but we own the improvements,” said Benathan Upshaw, co-owner and managing director of CB-Emmanuel. “We are their tenants.”
Delta Development began looking at a redevelopment almost immediately after the school closed, initially focusing on seniors, but then shifted toward a project for women military veterans and women and children who are victims of domestic violence. However, the group turned back to seniors in 2019 after getting pushback from the surrounding neighborhood about potential traffic and school buses.
“Every classroom and office was converted to an apartment,” Lonergan said. “When we were taking the Sisters through, these were homerooms, so they were pointing out who the teachers were.”
The project is named for one of the order’s founders, Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska, who worked with women and children. Leasing has been underway for about two months, and about 30 units are now occupied, with the expectation that it will be fully leased by the end of July.
Designed by Trautman Associates and built by RP Oak Hill Building Co., the adaptive-reuse project was funded with equity from $8.8 million in low-income housing tax credits, $3.4 million in federal historic tax credits and $2.8 million in state historic tax credits, as well as $3.6 million from the state’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program and $3.4 million from New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Supportive Housing Opportunity Program.
The Town of Cheektowaga provided $300,000 in HOME funds, while the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority chipped in another $60,000. Evans Bank provided a $12.1 million construction loan.