Work on Adjacent Six-Plex of Apartments, Crane Hill, to Begin This Summer
HOMER – Fifteen years after it hired its first staff member, Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiatives (KPHI) held a grand opening for it’s brand new office in Homer today. The housing non-profit also announced that it will open a Homer Community Housing Center in the same building, and will break ground on six new apartments this summer on an adjacent lot.
“We believe there is a real need for affordable housing in Homer, and are excited to not only be building a six-plex this summer, but also to be offering a community housing center where people can come to find out where housing is available,” said KPHI executive director Steven Rouse. “We envision the center as a place where Alaskans will be able to take housing classes, hold meetings, do research and apply for housing.”
KPHI’s office, located at 4201 Ronda Street, offers modern work space for KPHI’s four employees. In the other half of the building, there will be a large meeting room outfitted with computers, audio-visual equipment and other resources to help support anyone who is looking for housing on the Kenai Peninsula. The new office building and community center is being funded with KPHI money, and by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation’s (AHFC) Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Under the program, KPHI purchased a foreclosed property, fixed it up, then sold it and reinvested the profits to build its new office and the community center. A Tier 1 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation will help to pay for furniture, technology and equipment for the Housing Center.
KPHI also announced today that it will break ground in June on a new multi-family housing project, Crane Hill Apartments. When completed in February 2019, KPHI will be offering two, one-bedroom, two, two bedroom and two, three-bedroom apartments to people who earn 30, 50 or 60 percent of the HUD determined Area Median Income (AMI). Depending on income, size of family and the size of the apartment, rents will run from $XXX a month to $XXXX per month. Three ground floor apartments will be designed for individuals with a mental or physical disability.Priority for renting will be given to veterans, the homeless or those on the public housing wait list.
Crane Hill development funding comes from AHFC’s Goal Funding and the National Housing Trust Fund. It also is supported by a $7,500 grant from Wells Fargo Foundation and an additional grant from the Rasmuson Foundation. Homer’s Planning & Zoning Commission will consider a request for a conditional use permit at their meeting tonight, so that work on Crane Hill can begin. KPHI anticipates it will start taking applications for the six apartments sometime around Christmas 2018.
Last month, KPHI opened its first development in Kenai, a six-plex called Clear Pointe, which is very similar to the building planned for Homer. KPHI also announced last month that it was starting the first phase of Kenai Meadows, a six-unit senior housing project next to Clear Pointe. Construction will begin in June and it is expected to be complete by February 2019. That development will provide two, one-bedroom apartments and four, two-bedroom apartments with accommodations for mobility and sensory impairments. One of the senior housing apartments will be income restricted for an individual or couple who earns 30 percent of the AMI.
For the last 20 years, KPHI has been providing low-income, senior and special needs housing to residents of the Kenai Peninsula. KPHI currently manages more than 100 units of affordable housing in Homer, Seward, Soldotna, Ninilchik and Kenai. Learn more at www.KPHI.net.