Maricopa County earmarks $3.1M to build 200-plus affordable housing units in south Phoenix
Jul 28, 2022, 4:15 AM
(File Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Maricopa County is making a $3.1 million investment in more than 200 new affordable housing units — townhouses and apartments — in south Phoenix.
The funding, which comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, was earmarked for townhouses and apartments on Broadway Road between Seventh and Central Avenues, the county said in a press release Wednesday.
The county’s Human Services Department is partnering with Chicanos Por La Causa to develop the projects.
“As we allocate money, we are looking at barriers to homeownership and the rentals in this tight housing market,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates said in the release.
“We are helping developers construct affordable housing in the metro area where people need it most, and we have plans to connect people to that housing as it nears completion.”
The townhouse community will be located on a 5.3-acre site on the northeast corner of Broadway Road and Sixth Avenue.
It will feature 74 homes in a pedestrian-friendly setting, with bike paths, open spaces and gathering areas.
The complex will provide applicants with household incomes of 80%-120% of the area median income with access to homeownership opportunities and down payment assistance.
A few blocks east on Broadway Road, the Pueblo Apartments will be built on 4.2 acres at Third Avenue.
The complex will have 161 units ranging from 450-square-foot studios to 1,130-square-foot three-bedroom layouts.
The apartments will be reserved for households at or below 60% of the area median income.
County leaders have been working to implement a range of solutions for the issue of housing affordability, previously putting $65 million toward the effort.
Maricopa County has an online dashboard that tracks how it uses its $871 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding. The dashboard showed nearly $600 allocated with over $200 million spent as of Wednesday. (It hadn’t been updated since June 16.)
Twenty percent of the allocation was for housing, with 12% to address homelessness and 6% for rent and mortgage assistance.
Valley residents struggling financially can find resources on Maricopa County’s Rescue + Restore website.