Construction starts on $3.2 million veteran’s housing project in Utica

UTICA, N.Y. — Construction has started on the $3.2 million Central New York Veteran’s Outreach Center housing project in Utica.

Once complete, the project will provide 17 units of housing for homeless veterans, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release issued Friday.

The Central New York Veteran’s Outreach Center is a program of the Utica Center for Development, Inc., according to the organization’s website.

The housing project is part of the second phase of Cuomo’s $20 billion, five-year plan to “create or preserve” more than 110,000 “affordable” and 6,000 “supportive” housing units in New York. Cuomo announced the plan on May 18.

The homeless housing and assistance program of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance awarded the Utica Center for Development $3.2 million for the project, Cuomo’s office said.

The City of Utica also provided $35,000 in community development block-grant funding for the project.

Construction includes converting vacant space on the third and fourth floors of the Utica Center for Development’s Central New York Veteran’s Outreach Center into seven permanent “supportive” housing units and 10 transitional housing units.

Residents will have access to on-site support services, including counseling, life skills, transportation, legal services, substance use, and mental-health services.

The outreach center is the organization’s “signature” program, serving as a “one-stop” facility for veterans residing throughout Oneida, Madison, Herkimer, and Otsego counties.

Vincent Scalise, executive director of the Central New York Veterans Outreach Center, called it a “long-awaited day” and “we are grateful it is here.”

“Nine years ago, we took site control of this property with the dream of adding housing units for our area veterans. Over the course of the past nine years, my staff and I [worked] tirelessly to help veterans and their families in need and today marks the beginning of a new era for the [Central New York] Veteran’s Outreach Center,” Scalise said in Cuomo’s news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com