A New Jersey developer has been awarded a federal grant to construct 71 units of mixed income housing at the the SOS Products Company building in East Greenville.

            In September, Ingerman/Genesis was awarded a total of $965,000 in federal HOME funds for the Willows at East Greenville, according to  Kaitlyn Foti, Montgomery County's press secretary.

            The money originated from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The county serves as a pass-through entity, according to Foti.

            The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) provides formula grants to states and localities that communities use, often in partnership with local nonprofit groups, to fund a wide range of activities including building, buying, and/or rehabilitating affordable housing for rent or homeownership or providing direct rental assistance to low-income people, according to information posted on the agency's website.

            It states that the program is the largest federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households.

            In March, the owner of the building appeared before East Greenville borough council to pitch his proposal to convert the facility to residential units.

            Carl Weiner, an Upper Gwynedd attorney representing Bill Pryor, asked council to consider a text amendment that would allow for the creation of approximately 70 apartments inside the building near the intersection of Fourth Street and Water Alley.  Approval of the amendment would permit residential use of the property at 401 W. Fourth St. in an industrial district, according to Weiner.

            The business currently produces plumbing and heating chemicals at the building that exceeds 100,000-square feet, according to the property records posted on the Montgomery County website.

            Pryor, appearing during the public meeting with a representative of New Jersey development company Ingerman and a Chalfont engineer, told council that he has owned the building for 50 years and he wanted to see it "go in a good direction."

            The proposed apartments would feature a mix of one, two and three bedrooms, according to Weiner.

            However, Ingerman representative John Randolph of the project's development company described the total number of occupants as "a moving target."

            According to Randolph, all the apartments would be rented at a cost of between $750 and $1,250 per month. He added that the main access to the complex would be off Fourth Street, and estimated that the work could commence late next year.

            The conversion would preserve the history of the building, the oldest portion of which dates back to the 1860s, according to Randolph. He said that segment was utilized by the former Boyertown Casket Company.

            Municipal officials have not yet received a land development plan, according to borough Manager Jim Fry. "That would be the next step," he wrote in a Jan. 11 email message.