PITTSBURG, Kan. — Construction for new houses has kickstarted once again at Silverback Landing, a subdivision located off of the East Centennial in Pittsburg.

On Thursday morning, Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce members, city officials and others involved in the project celebrated the relaunch of the Silverback Landing build, which had been stalled for the past couple of years.

Twenty-two homes and a park have been built in the development, but phase one of the project has yet to be finished. Point Forward, a non-profit community development organization, recently took on the Silverback Landing Project to ensure its completion.

“We're very excited to see this neighborhood built out,” Point Forward Board Member Joe Dellesaga said. “We know we're facing some headwinds with building costs and interest rates. But that's why we felt like if we stepped in, and we could be a bridge to when the cost, the economy, all those things started to line up, we'd be in a position to really then continue to build out. But we wanted to make sure we took care of the asset and took care of the neighbors that we had.”

Dellesaga said Silverback Landing has attracted great people to the area, and when he met with residents already living in the subdivision, they were excited and passionate about the neighborhood. From an economic standpoint, Dellesage said, the new housing will benefit Pittsburg with the additional property taxes and other personal spending that comes with new people living in a community.

During the ribbon cutting and Chamber Coffee on Thursday, community members were able to tour a three-bedroom, two-bathroom 1,707-square-foot home in Silverback Landing recently built by Wilson Builders, who Point Forward hired to complete the project.

Owner Dustin Wilson said his crew is scheduled to break ground next week for the next build in the subdivision. Within the next month, he said, they plan to start construction on three more. More than 30 houses are slated to be built for phase one with three different floorplans available. The Crimson Plan is a three-bedroom two-bathroom 1,707-square-foot home. The Dimora Plan is a four-bedroom, two-bathroom 1,865-square-foot home, and the Oikia Plan is a five-bedroom, three-bathroom 2,592-square-foot home with a walk-out basement and optional fourth bathroom.

Wilson said he is looking forward to building high quality homes for Pittsburg. Wilson Builders is a Pittsburg-based company that has been in business since 1994.

Cobb Realty Supervising Broker and Realtor Madison Marietta Miller, who is collaborating with Point Forward and Dustin Builders, said these homes will be very beneficial to the community.

“From the real estate sector, we constantly have people wanting new construction or new neighborhoods,” Marietta Miller said. “This is a very family-friendly, safe neighborhood. It has a park, and phase two will have a pool. I think people are very happy about that.”

This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews.