Progress has proceeded steadily this year on three multi-family residential housing construction projects in Perry, with two of the projects expected to start renting to tenants early in 2017.
Willis Avenue Apartments
Work is nearest completion on the $6.3 million Willis Avenue Apartment complex in downtown Perry at 913 Willis Ave., south of the Perry Police Department offices and east of Pattee Park.
Construction began about one year ago on the 38-unit workforce housing complex owned by Kenosha, Wis.-based Bear Development. The one-, two- and four-bedroom units are expected to start renting early next year.
The project was financed in part by federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) awarded to Bear Development by the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA).
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.
For more information about the Willis Avenue Apartments, call 515-698-9702.
Hamlin-Bell Apartments
Work on the $7 million Hamlin-Bell apartment complex at 10th Street and Willis Avenue in Perry, the site of the former junior high school, is moving indoors, and the March completion date is still on track, according to the developers of the property.
Construction of the 36-unit Newbury Living senior housing complex was delayed last spring by unforeseen environmental issues and various technical requirements of the IFA but has been moving along steadily since.
The Hamlin-Bell complex won city approval in 2013 after several presentations made by Newbury President Frank Levy before the Perry City Council. The project received approval by the Iowa Finance Authority in 2015 on its third attempt.
The city of Perry gave West Des Moines-based Newbury Living the land for the project, a buy-in that helped the company win LIHTCs in 2015. The non-profit Nudgers, a local Perry development group, also partnered with Newbury to help win IFA approval.
For more information about the Hamlin-Bell Apartments, call 515-238-0271.
Casalina Chateau
The third affordable-housing project underway is the Casalina Chateau, a six-unit duplex subdivision developed by Urbandale-based Capax Infiniti Housing Inc. for the lot directly north of Veterans Park and across Eighth Street from the Perry Elementary School.
The Perry City Council approved preliminary platting documents for the project in October 2015, following a recommendation by the Perry Planning and Zoning Commission.
The duplexes would be Perry’s first affordable-housing project with supportive services, according to La Toya Guevara of Capax Infiniti, which describes itself as “a tax-exempt, charitable organization dedicated to strengthening the communities we serve by providing permanent supportive housing with supportive services to low-income families in Iowa.”
Guevara contrasted her company’s project with the Bear Development and Newbury Living rental housing projects.
“This project is a little different,” Guevara said, “because it would be serve those harder-to-serve households, and we would hopefully be working with the city and collaborating with other organizations to help meet their needs.”
Capax Infiniti was awarded $67,000 in 2012 by the IFA for a tenant-based rental assistance program in Polk County. The Perry plan will be similar, Guevara said.
Guevara estimated the monthly rents in the Perry units would range between $700 and $900. She said her company has provided rental assistance for several years in the Perry area in concert with the Central Iowa Regional Housing Authority and New Opportunities Dallas County Family Development Center.
“There’s a lot of need coming from Perry,” Guevara said. “We target homeless families, veterans and people 55 and older.”
For more information about the Casalina Chateau, call 515-276-5823.
