The first walls were raised Monday morning on the $6.3 million Willis Avenue Apartment complex in downtown Perry. Construction Management Associates Inc., general contractors for the project, are building the 38-unit workforce housing complex for Kenosha, Wis.-based Bear Development.
The apartments are located at 913 Willis Ave., south of the Perry Police Department offices and east of Pattee Park. Construction began in late December and is expected to take about one year. The one-, two- and four-bedroom units will start renting early in 2017.
The project is financed in part by federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits awarded to the Bear Development by the Iowa Finance Authority.
Bear Development owns and manages about 90 properties in 10 states, including single-family houses, apartment complexes, hotels, retail and commercial spaces and industrial sites.