This article was originally published by the Tribune-Review.

By Brian C. Rittmyer | Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, 2:35 p.m.

Pioneer Apartments in New Kensington remains an unfinished construction project at this point, but people are expected to begin calling it home within a month.

Wesley Family Services plans to open Pioneer Apartments on Oct. 1 and is now accepting applications for potential residents, said Stephen Christian-Michaels, chief executive officer of Family Services of Western Pennsylvania, part of Wesley Family Services.

Construction of the $18.2 million, four-story building on a former city parking lot on Fourth Avenue near city hall started in June 2019. The project was originally scheduled to be completed by late spring or early summer of this year, but work was delayed by the covid-19 pandemic.

Work stopped in the third week of March and did not resume until May 4, Christian-Michaels said.

While the building’s 36 apartments will open on Oct. 1, Wesley Family Service’s offices there will not open until November.

“We wanted to make sure that the apartments were completed first before our office space, so that individuals and families who are relying on this housing would be able to move in as soon as possible,” Christian-Michaels said.