Work In Progress on 80-unit Senior Housing

It was a long time coming, but construction has finally begun on a five-story building downtown that will have 80 senior apartments.

I took advantage of the unusually warm weather Monday to walk over and get some photos.

Developer Steven Chung won permission in 2008 to split a large parking lot behind his building on East Front Street, leaving one portion for use of customers and clients of the commercial tenants and using the north part for new construction.

Not a lot of work was going on Monday, but it was exciting to see the excavation and concrete poured for the base of the building. It is off East Front Street between Roosevelt and Westervelt avenues.

In 2008, The Monarch was being built with 63 condos, but other projects failed to materialize. They included 12 condos on West Front Street and a 224-unit project at Leland and South avenues. Over on Richmond and Third, a developer was allowed to withdraw plans for a 352-unit project.

So it is good to see things happening now.

--Bernice