SARATOGA SPRINGS — Four of the city’s 28 recently acquired, affordable housing units are getting a face-lift, and the rest are expected to follow suit eventually.

The work at 39 Allen Drive will make the building more energy-efficient, said Edward Spychalski, director of the city’s Housing Authority.

“Everything’s going to be high-efficiency, Energy Star-type equipment put in,” he said. The home is getting a new roof and new insulation as well.

“We’ve been working on that for about a week and a half now,” he said of the one building, which will serve as a prototype for the others.

“It’s giving us a good flavor for the other buildings, what we can expect there,” Spychalski said.

Allen Drive is on the city’s west side off Route 9N. The units are four apartments in each of seven single-story buildings.

Spychalski hopes to get Community Development Block Grants in the future for the rest of the apartments.

The nonprofit Saratoga Affordable Housing Network bought the homes for $2.3 million from Shawn McCormick this summer and the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority will manage the property. Block grants paid $150,000 toward the purchase price, and a mortgage covered the rest.

Some residents get Section 8 housing assistance and others pay $700 a month for the apartments for the first year, Spychalski said.

The official price for those who get government assistance is set at $851 a month, although most pay between $200 and $500 a month in cash. That amount is considered the fair market value for a two-bedroom apartment in Saratoga Springs.

All the units are currently occupied, Spychalski said.

They used to pay $675 to $875 a month for the two-bedroom units, plus $23 a month for water. So most residents’ rents stayed the same because water now is included in the rent.

Residents started paying their rent to the Housing Authority July 1. The authority board will decide before the residents’ one-year lease is up June 30 what the rent amount will be next year for those that don’t have Section 8.

Spychalski expects to have a rendering next Friday of what the buildings will eventually look like.

He said the recent work has inspired residents to clean up their own homes.

“It’s kind of the trickle-down effect. They see things happening, the residents, so now they’re pitching in: pulling weeds, cutting grass. It gives everyone a sense of pride.”

The housing units made headlines in 2004 when residents complained that a previous owner wouldn’t address mold problems, tiles falling off bathroom walls and broken appliances.

The mold forced some tenants out, residents said then. And the city cited previous owner Mohammed Afzal Ghuman with electrical code violations in the past.

Spychalski said he will conduct an inspection of the units with the city’s code enforcement officers after the affordable housing group takes over the property. “We don’t want anyone coming back and saying we’re not doing our job,” he said, adding the Housing Authority takes care of its properties.