The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a $17 million investment to go toward creating affordable housing.
From the investment, $8 million will be given to Arizona Housing Inc. to fund a project that will provide housing specifically for people exiting homelessness.
However, Amy Bolton, Maricopa County Human Services communications manager said not much of the investment approved by Maricopa County will be seen in downtown Phoenix.
“In terms of this announcement for $17 million, yes a portion of the funding will be in central Phoenix but not necessarily downtown,” Bolton said.
The $8 million will go toward converting a hotel located on Van Buren Street in central Phoenix to affordable housing for people who are going from homelessness to housing.
Bolton said not only will the project create 50 new units that will be move-in ready but there will also be case management services to help residents find employment and programs to match their needs.
Reports from Maricopa County showed that construction will begin in late 2022 and should be fully completed by the summer of 2023.
The federal American Rescue Plan Act funded the $17 million for the housing projects. Based on the report produced by Maricopa County, the investment was split between the hotel conversion project and the creation of new housing units.
Since $8 million went toward the hotel conversion the remaining $9 million will be split between Glendale and central Phoenix.
“New construction will add 368 units in the West Valley and 192 units in Central Phoenix,” the report from Maricopa County stated.
The Gorman Group was given $6 million to build 368 affordable rentals at the southeast corner of 67th and Glendale Avenues, according to the report.
The reports stated that the building of the 368 rentals will be split up into two phases, “phase one will build 186 units and phase two will bring an additional 182 units.”
The remaining $3 million will be given to Ulysses Development in order to create a rental complex with 192 units.
Bolton said this project is called “Salt River Flats” and will be in Phoenix near Broadway and 14th Street and is estimated to be completed by March 2024.
Courtney McEuen, a real estate agent from Phoenix, said because the price of homes has increased all over Arizona, the creation of new affordable housing units is needed.
“Overall, homes have gone up in price nationally and locally, but each neighborhood has their own value differences,” McEuen said.
Upon completion, the three projects combined will produce 600 new housing units that will be priced affordably for residents in different areas of Arizona.
The Maricopa County reports state the Salt River Flats units will, “be available to those who have 60% of the area median income ($42,660 for a family of three)” making it a more affordable option.
Maricopa County has made a few more investments toward helping residents in addition to the new units.
Reports stated that the other efforts in Maricopa County included “$39 million in additional emergency rental and utility assistance, $33 million for homeless prevention measures and more than $1 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds to build affordable housing units in Avondale and Tempe.”
Bolton said Maricopa County will make another announcement in April regarding more affordable housing investments. This information can be found along with other updates from Maricopa County.
Contact the reporter at mkwhitak@asu.edu.
