A transformation of the former Aeolian apartments into a 60-unit complex for seniors is expected to last about a year, its developer said Thursday.

Extra signs and a mesh security fence went up around the 15,000-square-foot building at Cherry and Clay streets this week. Starting Monday, workers will remove walls inside the building to make way for new living areas, said Jeremy Mears of Houston-based Brownstone.

“There’s a lot of water damage in there, a lot of rust,” Mears said. “After about 45 days with that, it’ll be about 10 months of new construction. At this time next year, we should be open.”

A year ago this month, Brownstone was awarded $749,045 in affordable tax credits, or HTCs, from the Mississippi Home Corporation. The agency handles federal funds for affordable housing in the state.

Units planned in the new Aeolian will have energy-efficient appliances and be outfitted for cable television and Internet. A 42-space parking lot will be developed in a vacant lot a block away, at Cherry and China streets.

A separate company will manage the apartment once it’s open, Mears said. Applications will be advertised and processed at a later date, he said.

Rents funded by HTCs are paid on a sliding scale based on a county’s area income. Those eligible must earn less than 60 percent of that mark, which was $30,855 in Warren County for a family of four, based on the most recent income-related census data. Minimum age for eligible tenants will be 62, as per federal guidelines for senior apartments funded by HTCs.

Brownstone also has applied for HTCs to renovate the former Carr Central building, farther south on Cherry Street. Plans there call for a 72-unit, multifamily structure for low- and moderate-income renters called Village Oaks.

Awards for HTCs among 57 applications this year, including Carr Central, are expected by the next MHC board meeting, on Oct. 12, said Scott Spivey, senior vice president of communications and information technology.