Roxboro City Manager Jon Barlow told City Council Tuesday night that Metropolitan Housing & CDC (MHCDC), which announced last year its plans for constructing a housing community in Roxboro, had hit a roadblock, but had not been cancelled.

The project is slated to involve construction of 29 one-bedroom independent units targeted for elderly residents. A community building is also slated to be a part of the complex. The original site for the housing community, which will be called “Bernie’s Blessing,” is off of the Durham Road, near Azalea Drive.

“According to a message we got from the developer, they had some environmental tests that came back that weren’t good,” Barlow said. “It is my understanding that they still want to do the project in Roxboro, but that they have got to step back and find a new site.

“That’s where I think they are right now,” Barlow added. “I think they are looking for new land … within the city.”

MHCDC housing consultant Brett Massey told The Courier-Times Friday the project “is still on go.

“We ran into some issues on the site we were proposing to build on,” Massey said. “We are in the process now of looking for another parcel of land to construct the facility on.

“The project is not going anywhere,” Massey added. “…It is still going to be constructed in Roxboro.”

Initially, construction of the 29 units was to get underway sometime this past summer. A site plan for Bernie’s Blessing had been submitted to the city and the progress toward a construction starting date was being made.

Late last year, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., announced that MHCDC was awarded one of six federal grants that were issued to supportive housing groups in North Carolina.

MHCDC, a faith-based non-profit organization based in eastern North Carolina, was awarded a $3.3 million federal grant to build housing for the elderly in Roxboro. A total of just over $10 million in federal grant money was awarded.

The grants were awarded through the Supportive Housing for Persons With Disabilities and Supportive Housing for the Elderly Programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The programs are intended to expand housing opportunities for the elderly.