Deadline extended for Alco site housing plans
Jul. 24—CUMBERLAND, Md. — Requests for proposals to develop the former Allegany High School site have been extended to Aug. 25, county officials said.
Allegany County government had issued an RFP for prospective builders in late April and hoped to receive plans for the 12-acre site by mid-July. However, after receiving input from potential contractors, officials decided to give developers more time to submit plans.
"We've given contractors a good long time to come up with plans and designs to submit to us," said Jason Bennett, county administrator. "So it's a waiting game right now with answering questions from contractors. So we have a little ways to go yet."
The county hopes to see 100-115 non-apartment units constructed on the site along Sedgwick Street on the city's West Side.
"In order to attract and retain a qualified workforce, Allegany County is seeking to leverage 11.92 acres of real estate that it owns in Cumberland to spur new market-rate housing for current and future residents," the RFP says. "In keeping with its image as an affordable community, the target housing price range for Allegany County is between $200,000 to $250,000 per unit.
"Given the recent inflationary pressures placed on the construction sector, reaching these target home costs are not feasible without local government intervention," the RFP says. "To mitigate high construction costs, the county will act as a development partner and conduct all planning, design, engineering and construction in preparation of the site for said new housing units."
The RFP said the county would include utility line installation as part of the package.
In an April meeting of the Allegany County Board of Commissioners, Adam Strott, economic development specialist, said the preference is for middle-density housing, consisting of townhomes, duplexes and cottage courts. Cottage courts consist of a small group of one- to 1 1/2-story detached homes constructed around a common courtyard.
Bennett said no plans have come in so far.
"We have not received any proposals, nothing official in the door," he said. "But the way these things usually work they typically roll in within the last couple days. No one wants to be the first one in. So they come in at the last second. But the bids will be sealed.
"We've already had several phone calls and inquiries on it and people wanting to look at the site, so we are hopeful we will get something positive out of this."
A new $55 million Allegany High School was constructed on Haystack Mountain in 2018 with the old school on Sedgwick Street, which served students for more than 90 years, demolished and cleared last year.
Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.
