AUGUST 21, 2015, 6:25 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015, 7:59 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Bergen County’s United Way is considering acquisition of the American Red Cross building on Godwin Avenue, having deemed the two-storied structure ideal for a possible affordable-housing project.
Tom Toronto, the president of Bergen County’s United Way, confirmed Friday his organization “is interested” in procuring the Red Cross site in Ridgewood, which recently hit the market following a reorganization of the non-profit’s real estate holdings.
Toronto said village officials approached him a few weeks ago to suggest the building as a potential location for a United Way-funded supportive housing project.
“Our interest would be to convert that building into housing, and there is some appeal to the structure: It lends itself to adaptation for housing relatively easily and efficiently,” Toronto said, mentioning that it’s asking price could be “a hurdle.”
Toronto said Bergen County’s United Way could end up making an offer on the Ridgewood parcel as soon as next week, but as of now “We’re in the process of assessing whether we can make a meaningful offer for the building,” Toronto said.
The Red Cross building needs an elevator, Toronto said, noting the building’s first floor would likely be devoted to living spaces for the physically and developmentally disabled. Other units in the building, Toronto said, could be allocated as senior-citizen residences, depending on the village’s affordable housing needs.
