Cleveland, Ohio (June 5, 2009) - The NRP Group LLC and ABCD, Inc. (Association for Better Community Development) announced the grand opening of Wilson Pointe Senior Apartment Homes, a 40-unit senior community development located at 515 Fifth Street NW, Canton, OH. A ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by Stephen Slesnick State Representative, Robert Torres, Canton Development Director; Thomas West, Second Ward Councilman; Peter Ferguson, Stark County Commissioner; Kevin Clark, Ohio Housing Finance Agency, as well as other local dignitaries and Wilson Pointe residents.
Will Dent, President & CEO, ABCD, Inc. presided over the grand opening ceremony. "A year ago we broke ground and it was a vision—a vision to victory. And, it was the partnership with The NRP Group, which enabled us to complete this marvelous project," said Will Dent, President & CEO, ABCD Inc.
"NRP is truly honored to be a part of a development that will not only bring high quality housing to the senior residents of the City of Canton, but also make a significant contribution to the all of the redevelopment efforts transpiring in and around Downtown Canton," stated Aaron Pechota, Vice President of Development, NRP Group LLC.
Wilson Pointe Senior Apartment Homes is an architecturally striking development fantastic indoor leisure areas and panoramic views of the surrounding neighborhood. Located in and around downtown Canton, it's also close in proximity to public and community services.
"We are in very uncertain economic times, but it is a very special day when we have a project like Wilson Pointe open, " said Stephen Slesnick, State Representative. "This is a very important part of the revitalization of Downtown Canton and this is a wonderful development. I look forward to working with all of you on future projects."
"Today is a glorious day for Ward 2 and Downtown Canton. This is the first new development from ground up downtown," said Thomas West, 2nd Ward Councilman. "We talked a lot about new housing and our seniors will be very satisfied with the upscale housing available."
Edwina Wilson, daughter of the late Dr. William Wilson and Dr. Doris Ashworth Wilson stated, "What a difference a year makes since the groundbreaking. Much progress and cooperation occurred throughout the year. I am proud to live in Canton." The Wilson Pointe development was named in honor of the Wilson family. "Every person has a right to live in affordable housing. It is a basic right that every person on this planet should have. My father would be proud."
Each community resident will be provided with a spacious, well-appointed one or two-bedroom apartment. These units have efficient floor plans that connect kitchen and living room areas to create a large open living space, with breakfast bars in almost every floor plan. As a three-story, elevator served apartment building with more than 1,200 square feet of usable interior common space, Wilson Pointe provides numerous leisure areas for meetings, games and events. A limited number of handicapped units are also available.
Partners of Wilson Pointe development are the City of Canton, Stark County, OHFA (Ohio Financing Agency), First Merit Corp., Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, The Association for Better Community Development, Inc., Canton Development Partnership and the NRP Group LLC.