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Oneonta affordable housing wins state support

Solvejg Wastvedt
/
WRVO News
This house is one of the project sites. Under the plan, an affordable housing duplex will replace it.

 

An affordable housing project in Oneonta just got nearly $7 million from New York state. Gary Herzig says the project fills a big need.

“We have very few affordable housing units for working families,” Herzig says. “In addition, we have a list, a long list, of vacant housing units that unfortunately is getting longer every year.”

Herzig works at the community agency Opportunities for Otsego. He helped coordinate the new housing project. Low-cost units will replace five currently abandoned buildings and some vacant property. There will be senior housing for 40 and other units for 20 families.

“It’s a good start,” Herzig says. “There’s a lot more work to be done, but it’s moving us in the right direction.”

The total project cost is $15 million. Herzig says the city and private investors will add to the money from the state.

Solvejg Wastvedt grew up in western Pennsylvania and graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Over the summer, she served in Los Angeles as an intern on NPR's National Desk. Plus, before coming to Upstate New York, Solvejg worked at the Minneapolis community radio station KFAI. When she isn't reporting the news, Solvejg enjoys running and exploring hiking trails.