SUNDERLAND — The first tenants are moving into Sanderson Place as Franklin County’s first new affordable housing complex in years opened its doors on Thursday.
Located at 120 North Main St. and featuring 33 wheelchair-accessible apartments, Sanderson Place is an affordable senior housing complex that was six years in the making. Tenants were approved through a lottery over the summer and have been waiting the last seven months for the OK to begin moving in.
For Andrea Sullivan, a former Southampton resident with family in Sunderland, being welcomed into her new home was even sweeter than expected.
“Today is my 75th birthday and the present I got is a new apartment,” Sullivan said with a grin. “God, I love it. I’m thrilled.”
The Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority managed the development of the housing project and Executive Director Gina Govoni said she and her staff were gratified to see Sanderson Place’s first residents move in.
“It’s so heartwarming,” Govoni said, adding that she and her staff had some butterflies about this project. “There was this fear of, ‘If you build it, will they come?’ … It’s lovely to see the tenants and their excitement.”
Eight tenants moved in on Thursday, though Govoni said she expects a “full house” by March 15.
