Construction on a two-story, 40-unit senior housing development that will change the face of College Street could begin within the next two weeks, as work on the foundation continues. The site supervisor said the goal is to have the building up and in operation by this fall.

Work at the site began in earnest at the site last month, following the City Council’s approval of a bid for extension of water and sewer service and sidewalk construction. Mills Construction Co. of Raleigh is the main contractor on the initial work and the actual construction of Sampson Square Apartments.

Mills officials said work is moving quickly.

“If we don’t get rained out, the plumbers will be in here this weekend, and the concrete guys will be right behind them,” said Gary Hollingsworth, site supervisor for Mills Construction Co. “Hopefully we’ll get concrete poured in the next 10 days and get started on the building.”

On Thursday, vehicle traffic was being directed both ways on College Street, near the construction site, as workers dug up sections of the street in order to tap in to the city water line running down the side of the roadway opposite of where the apartment complex will be located. Hollingsworth said a sewer hookup would be in the not-too-distant future.

Following the pouring of concrete at the site, Mills Construction will begin “framing” the building, putting up the infrastructure and the shell of what will be the building. The structure will then be insulated and sheet rock will be put up, after which the inside finishes on the building will occur.

Hollingsworth said that, while there is plenty of work to be done in the coming months, all of the hard work — design plans, permits and other legwork — has been done.

The apartment complex has been a topic of discussion with city of Clinton officials and Mills Construction Co. for the last two years, since the beginning of 2008.

Following a presentation in March 2008 about a possible multi-family complex on College Street, a conditional use permit was unanimously approved the next month for Fred G. Mills and Mills Construction Co., Inc. to construct the two story multi-family apartment building at 804 and 806 College St.

The site is located on approximately 5 acres in the R-6 residential district. Land for it was officially transferred from the two property owners to Sampson Square, LLC at the end of last year.

Sampson Square Apartments will be fully handicap accessible and include an elevator, a library and computer center. The apartment would house only tenants who were 55 and older, and a “key punch” security system will be implemented at the drive-through entrance. Buffers will be located all around the building and maintained, including a fence to be placed along the rear property line. Dumpsters will be screened in and efforts to reduce trespassing and parking will be implemented as part of the construction of the structure.

Before the building is constructed however, Mills workers are installing water and sewer lines and sidewalks at Sampson Square Apartments, work that is being funded through a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $240,000.

The City Council accepted those funds at the beginning of 2009, at which time the Department of Commerce required a formal agreement between the city and Sampson Square, LLC specifying that if Sampson Square, LLC does not create 40 rental units within three years of the agreement, they will be responsible for repaying the $240,000 to the Department of Commerce.

The lowest bid on the preliminary work was submitted by Mills Construction out of Raleigh, at a cost of $232,000. They will then move into the actual construction of the 46,000-square-foot apartment complex, which could be concluded as early as September, Hollingsworth said. The target date for completion is this fall, the site supervisor noted.

“Hopefully October, or the latter part of September,” he said.

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.