The Rev. Robert Chavers said he doesn't see how Mercer County Housing Authority will be able to sell a home to someone making as little as $12,000 a year.

"That's poverty level," said Rev. Chavers, an authority board member. "They can't afford no $40,000 home."

But Rev. Chavers did not stand in the way of the goal and voted with the board Wednesday to approve a homeownership plan embracing that goal.

As part of the HOPE VI redevelopment of Steel City Terrace in Farrell, the authority wants to build 26 homes for sale, along with public housing apartments and apartments for rent at closer to the market rate.

The authority has funding through the federal HOPE VI grant, the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the Federal Home Loan Bank to build the first 12 homes, but needs the approval of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before it can proceed.

Tentative closing date is April 1.

The development will be called the Homes at Farrell Crossing.

"We're using that as a marketing tool, to give the area a new image," said authority HOPE VI coordinator Frank Gargiulo.

The authority hopes to sell the homes to people with annual incomes of $12,000 to $19,000.

Gargiulo agreed with Rev. Chavers that it will be difficult for someone at the low end of the scale to afford a mortgage, taxes and insurance, but he noted that homeownership classes and counseling on related issues will be offered.

The homes will be part of a homeowners association, and the deeds will carry restrictive covenants that buyers must understand, he said.

The three-bedroom homes will have 1è bathrooms, full basements and $40,000 mortgages.

The homes will be built for much more than the mortgage level, but affordability is a big part of the authority's impetus for building them.