Phoenix to get $10M for 2 new affordable housing projects
Sep 5, 2023, 4:25 AM | Updated: 5:27 am
PHOENIX – The Phoenix City Council voted to accept $10 million in federal and county funds to launch two new affordable housing projects during a meeting last month.
The money will come from Maricopa County, which will share a portion of federal funds it received through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Half of the $10 million payout will go towards converting a former Super 8 Motel near Northern Avenue and Interstate 17 into a supportive housing facility.
“This will create safe affordable housing units at a critical time for our community,” Councilwoman Betty Guardado, who oversees the district the 125-room hotel was in, said at a meeting.
The former Super 8 hotel is located at 8130 N. Black Canyon Highway.
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“This $5 million investment … will complement the incredible work we have been busy doing along 27th Avenue,” Guardado said.
How is Phoenix improving the area near 27th Avenue?
City documents said the hotel conversion will support “a larger community revitalization effort” in the area.
That includes Project Haven, a future housing complex that is currently being renovated into an emergency shelter for seniors. Project Haven is north of the former Super 8 hotel site.
Guardado said the hotel renovation would also complement the upcoming Innovation 27 Workforce Training and Education Collaborative.
That’s another construction project city leaders are currently working on. City leaders are creating a campus out of what used to be a Kmart. The Innovation 27 facility will teach job skills in west Phoenix once construction is completed in the fall of 2024.
Arizona State University, Maricopa County Community College District and Western Maricopa Education Center will help Phoenix city officials teach students through the Innovation 27 program.
Both Project Haven and the Innovation 27 project will be within walking distance of the housing facility when construction is complete.
What’s the second of the two new affordable housing projects?
The other $5 million payout will bolster Councilwoman Kesha Hodge Washington’s district, which is east of downtown Phoenix.
The money will help the city afford construction costs associated with redeveloping Horizon on Villa, which will be on the site of the former A.L. Krohn Homes public housing community near Villa and McKinley streets, city documents said.
“I’m excited to see another mixed income project,” Washington said. “It will be providing 109 new units of affordable and mixed income housing here in District 8 at the Edison-Eastlake community.”
The dozens of new units will provide affordable and mixed income housing units ranging from one- to five-bedroom models. The construction will also erect an outdoor community space with a “public art component” and a family education center.
The Horizon on Villa project is projected to kick off in the summer of 2024.
