Developer selected for West Side housing project
Sep. 22—CUMBERLAND — Allegany County officials voted Thursday to award D.R. Horton Co. of Dallas, Texas, a contract to construct housing at the site of the former Allegany High School.
The homebuilder was selected to work with the county and city of Cumberland to design and construct up to 115 non-apartment housing units at the 12.7-acre site.
D.R. Horton was approved by a vote of the Allegany County Board of Commissioners at the county office complex on Kelly Road.
"It has been a long time coming and we are really anxious to get dirt moving," Dave Caporale, county commission president, said after the meeting. "We are in desperate need of housing and we want to be able to attract new residents to Allegany County and this is a great start."
A request for proposals was issued by the county in April with the deadline of June 30. However, more time was requested by contractors and the deadline was extended to Aug. 28.
"There were three bids received and one clear winner chosen," said Adam Strott, economic development specialist. "We have done our due diligence. I'm here today to announce a review committee has selected a qualified winning bid."
Strott said the Texas-based D.R. Horton has a satellite office in Edgewater, Maryland.
"Their vision and ability to complete the project put them over the top. They are the largest homebuilder in the country," said Strott.
The land is located on Sedgwick Street where the former Allegany High School was demolished and cleared last year.
Strott said D.R. Horton will work with the county and city of Cumberland to create design plans. The county, with the assistance of grant opportunities, will cover the cost of developing a design plan and installing utility lines, paving and sidewalks.
"The county has committed to incentivizing this project through the development of infrastructure," Strott said after the meeting. "Housing construction costs right now are very high. In order to keep the housing units affordable, in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range, we need to subsidize it somehow and we decided the best way to do that was through (installing) infrastructure."
The original cost estimate for the design plans and infrastructure work was $4 million. However, Strott said determining the exact cost is difficult at this time. He said a finalized design plan will be needed to better estimate the cost.
D.R. Horton will earn a profit by building the homes and from their subsequent sale. Homes are expected to be single family detached homes, town homes and cottage courts.
Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter)
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