Jackson Free Press

Workers break ground this afternoon on a new $7.75 million affordable housing development near Northside Drive. The project, called Holly Hills, will use low-income housing tax credits to construct 60 units of rental housing. Holly Hills should be partially open for occupancy within four months and complete by the end of the year, said Phil Eide, senior vice president of Hope Enterprise Corp., which helped fund the project.

Hope Enterprise Corporation worked with a number of investors, including Trustmark Bank, BankPlus and First Commercial Bank, to provide equity for the project. New Horizon Development (an organization unrelated to the Jackson-based church New Horizon Ministries) is the project's developer.

Located at 4555 Holly Drive, near Banner Hall, the property currently holds 96 multi-family housing units, all vacant for the past three months. The units, formerly known as Stratford Manor Apartments, were outdated and not well maintained, Eide said.

"Some (former residents) were evicted and should've been evicted," he said. "There were some folks in there that were not good for the neighborhood. Some (other) folks were moved into other places."

Construction will include demolition of two buildings on the property to reduce overall density, Eide said. The new two- and three-bedroom units will have new roofs, and feature new electrical, heating, air conditioning and appliances. People with incomes 60 percent of the area median income or below are eligible to apply for units, and a portion of the apartments will be reserved for those with incomes of 50 percent of the area median income or below.

Demand for affordable rental housing in the city is high, with fewer families able to afford or find financing for homes.

"The rental market needs to be stronger than ever right now," Eide said. "As is always the case, folks with the lowest income are the folks that are squeezed out of homeownership or rental and whose need is the greatest."

Previous Comments

ID

162806

Comment

Yep, Jackson needs more new homes built rather than apartments. When I was looking for a house started in Jackson and ended up somewhere else because there seemed to be a lack of quality housing (single family residences). And we looked for months...........

Author

redlion

Date

2011-03-26T07:57:22-06:00