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Affordable housing complex proposed for Prospect

The development would provide 164 housing units for seniors and working families

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- A proposal for affordable housing in Prospect has stirred up debate among current residents in the area, where the average cost of a home is $400,000.

The development would provide 164 housing units to seniors and working families, potentially housing people forced out of Beecher Terrace after demolition began on that housing complex this year.

The 13-acre site across from Rose Island Road in Prospect is already zoned properly to allow the planned complex, so no public hearing is required. But some residents have raised concerns about transportation in the area, from a lack of sidewalks and bus routes to an increasingly congested Highway 42.

"This is a total disaster," commented one resident in the neighborhood Facebook group. "There are absolutely no sidewalks, no deent bus routes and will be a traffic nightmare."

Another neighbor wrote, "My biggest concern is the increased potential for crime. You are taking residents from the highest crime area and placing them in the lowest crime area with no additional police support." 

But others, like life-long resident Duncan Vermillion, think the need for affordable housing outweighs the potential impacts on the existing neighborhood.

“It's so desperately needed. It's so desperately needed, and it hurts that people are fighting it,” Vermillion said. “They struggle in a way that's hard to comprehend and I don't have a problem with sharing my space with them.”

A spokesperson from LDG said the developers hope to break ground on the project by the start of 2020. The construction could take up to 18 months. 

The property management company pursuing the project, LDG Development, is using the next several months to get approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission and secure financing.

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► Contact reporter Heather Fountaine at hfountaine@whas11.com and follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Heather) and Facebook. 

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