HARRISBURG – On Friday, October 21, Fernandez Realty Group celebrated the ceremonial groundbreaking of Harrisburg’s newest multi-residential construction project. The $3 million project, located on the 1400 block of Sycamore Street, will include 23 one-bedroom units affordably priced to prioritize serving low-income people.
Sycamore Homes is an affordable, mixed income housing development that takes a holistic approach to directly address the major social, economic, and health disparities among minority communities. These disparities include race and ethnicity; gender; sexual identity and orientation; disability status or special health care needs; and geographic location.
Beyond the physical structure alone, Sycamore Homes will provide a wide variety of community-based services that establishes sustainable community economic development. The project will create a diverse array of employment opportunities both in the development phase of the project and in the long-term sustaining of the program. The Development team aims to have a 20% inclusion goal for local MBE/WBE businesses in the immediate region to help stimulate the local economy by putting citizens of the region back to work.
The Sycamore Homes development team is led by Fernandez Realty Group, a minority owned development company with ties to the immediate community, and Latino Connection, a local social determinants of health agency that exists to meet the needs of diverse and underserved communities. Founder and CEO of Fernandez Realty Group, George Fernandez is passionate about creating safe, affordable, and uplifting living environments for those in need, which is fueled by personal experience.
“I’m a product of a single mother of three, victim of domestic violence, whose family never qualified for social assistance programs. I grew up in low-income housing that did not feel safe, failed to meet our basic needs, and diminished our sense of pride and dignity. My vision for Sycamore Homes is to ensure underserved communities never experience what my family did and always have adequate access to comprehensive social assistance programs that give people the right tools for building a prosperous life,” says George Fernandez, Founder and CEO of Latino Connection and Fernandez Realty Group. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by members of the development team, community leaders, and the public. This event signaled the beginning of construction which will be managed by Steel Works Construction. The project completion date is set for some time in 2023. More information can be found at https://homeharrisburg.org.