With the Creation of New Jobs: McDowell Housing in High Demand

A new 30-unit housing project proposed on Tom's Mountain near Welch will help to meet an anticipated demand in new housing following last week's approval of a federal prison for the Indian Ride Industrial Park , officials said.

The project will be developed by the West Virginia Housing Authority near the site of the former New Hope Village , McDowell County Commission President Gordon Lambert said.

“They (the housing authority) had always said they were going to wait on the final record of decision on the prison, and then they would get started,” Lambert said. “They are going to be real nice houses – at least $100,000 (a house) or more. We are looking at people coming in with the federal prison, and those people make great dollars.”

Lambert said the housing project is the first of several spin-off benefits anticipated as a result of the federal prison project.

Construction on the 1,280 bed federal prison at the Indian Ridge Industrial Park in Welch could begin as soon as next spring. The prison will create approximately 330 full time jobs, and infuse as much as $35 million annually into the economy of McDowell County . The prison also is expected to create about 600 temporary construction jobs during the three-year construction phase.

“The city of Welch came before us, and they are going to be annexing that because they are going to run water and sewer to it,” Lambert said of the property. “I think they already have the water, and they are working on the sewer.”

Lambert said the federal prison will mandate the need for new housing.

“It's a big issue, especially with the price of gas,” Lambert said. “They are going to want to live close to their job. This is just one of the first steps – or spin-offs – of the prison. Hopefully, there will be lots of others coming.”

--Charles Owens (Bluefield Telegraph)