Nearly $7M awarded to affordable housing projects in Tucson

More affordable housing is coming to Tucson after the Pima County Board of Supervisors awarded nearly $7 million to preserve and develop more than 800 units here.

The $6.8 million in funding will lead to the creation of 835 additional units in eight projects across the metro area.

It’s the second batch of “gap funding” approved by the Pima County Regional Affordable Housing Commission, the first of which awarded $2.625 million for two housing projects in June 2023, according to a county news release.

“This allocation of gap funding makes sense within the budget priorities of this Board,” said Dan Sullivan, the director of Community & Workforce Development for the county in a recent news release. “This is local money that goes to local people, and improving opportunities and outcomes for low-income renters and homeowners help stabilize the economy for all of us.”

The approved proposals from both rounds of funding is expected to ensure a total of 1,038 units are developed or preserved. It includes a commitment to a 30-year housing affordability period, with property managers ensuring the households are at, or below, 80% of area median income, according to the release.

The eight approved projects are in three categories: new rental development, new home ownership development, and preserved or renovated existing housing.

New rental developments

Belvedere Terrace: $1 million

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Belvedere Terrace, once opened, will be located on East 22nd Street, between South Columbus Boulevard and South Swan Road.

Construction on the project will begin as early as June, said David Wohl, president of developer Newport SW, LLC. Wohl said construction will likely last until late 2025. That means tenants could move in as soon as the early months of 2026.

Belvedere Terrace will provide 72 units for low-income elderly renters. Fifty of those units will have a cap on rent based on a percentage of the area median income. And the remaining 22 units, Wohl said, will be set aside for elderly people experiencing homelessness, with rents based on the renter’s actual income.

For those 22 units, Wohl said, rent would be capped at 30% of its tenant’s “actual income.” In 2024 dollars, he said, unit rent will range from $610 for the least-expensive one-bedroom apartment to about $1,100 for the most expensive two-bedroom units.

The $1 million from the county will be used to install rooftop and carport solar panels, Wohl said, with the goal being the solar panels will cover renters’ utilities.

Desert Dove Apartments: $1 million

Desert Dove apartments may sound familiar to long-time Tucsonans, as the GHK Properties project is not only named after the Desert Dove Christian Church in Tucson, but is also at the same location.

Desert Dove apartments will be a two-story, 63-unit affordable housing complex with its rent cap at a target of 40-60% of the area median income, says GHK Properties managing partner Kristopher Ortega. Of the 63 units, he said, 16 will be three-bedroom units and 30 will have two bedrooms.

The project used the name of the church to help it remain part of the community, Ortega said. “There’s no tear-downs or anything like that, we’re using the excess lot,” Ortega said.

The gap funding will go towards construction, which is about 60 days out, Ortega said. If everything goes well, tenants will move in as early as late-2025.

Emery Park Place: $500,000

Emery Park Place will be located off of Drexel Road and will feature four duplexes making up eight units in total, says Family Housing Resources executive director Meghan Heddings.

FHR and Southern Arizona Land Trust (SALT), a developer of mostly single-family affordable housing, were awarded $500,000 to help cover construction costs for Emery Park Place.

All units will be ADA-accessible and will target individuals and families who earn 80% or less of the area median income, Heddings said.

Tenants are to begin moving in as early as March 2025, “if not sooner if we’re lucky,” Heddings said.

“We’re really grateful for the funds from Pima County and the Board of Supervisors’ commitment to affordable housing and putting general funds towards these endeavors,” she said. “It’s really important at this time and I think it’s noteworthy, what they’re doing.”

The Safford: $1 million

The Safford in Marana will be home to 200 apartments with financial support from the Section 42 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.

Located at 8470 N. Silverbell Road, construction on The Safford is expected to be completed in 2025.

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Rent limits for the new apartment complex will be $1,096 for a two-bedroom apartment, $1,266 for a three-bedroom apartment, and $1,413 for a four-bedroom apartment, The Arizona Republic reported.

West Point Apartments II: $1 million

West Point Apartments II is being developed in downtown Tucson, 20 E. Ochoa St., near South Stone Avenue.

The first West Point Apartments, formerly the old Westerner Hotel in downtown Tucson, was purchased by La Frontera Partners and converted into an affordable housing complex. La Frontera had demolished the back half of the hotel and replaced it with a tower.

West Point II, according to La Frontera President and CEO Dan Ranieri, will be just like the first one with same amenities and design, “only bigger.” The first West Points complex consists of 50 one-bedroom/one-bathroom units for persons 55-and-older. At that complex, all utilities are included in rent.

The 86-unit West Point II is set to begin construction next month. It will last about a year, meaning the complex can expect to be filled with tenants by spring 2025, Ranieri said.

It’s too early to begin developing rent figures, Ranieri said, but the plan is to designate a certain amount of units at a certain income threshold.

The complex will serve “low-income seniors earning between 40% and 60%” of the area’s median income, according to The Hisey Group, a development and consulting company working on the project.

The project has cost $31 million so far, The Hisey Group says on the project’s website.

Existing: preservation, renovation, re-use

El Camino Affordable Housing: $375,000

Built in the 1940s, the former El Camino Hotel on East Benson Highway was purchased in March 2023 by long-running South Tucson soup kitchen, Casa Maria.

Its 20 units are to be rented to people earning less than 80% of the area median income, or between $600 and $700 a month, including utilities.

The nonprofit’s goal in March was to raise $400,000 to add kitchenettes to all units.

Tucson House: $1 million

The Tucson House is a historic 17-story structure, which was a high-rise luxury apartment building built in 1963.

It was converted by the city into public housing in 1979, and the 408-unit tower at 1501 N. Oracle Road is now the city’s largest public housing site.

In July 2023, the city received a $50 million federal grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department’s Choice Neighborhoods program, designed to revitalize struggling neighborhoods with “distressed public or HUD-assisted housing,” the Star previously reported.

At the time, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said the plan was to turn the complex into a mixed-income community for those 55 and older.

New homeownership development

Mars Landing Development: $1 million

Habitat for Humanity’s “Mars Landing” will be a 30-home subdivision located on a vacant lot in northwest Tucson, near West Ina and North Thornydale roads.

The subdivision will be made up of three-bedroom, two-bathroom “entry level homes” which will be about 1,200-1,300 square feet in size, says Habitat for Humanity CEO Charlie Buchanan.

Each home will feature a shared-wall concept with its neighbor and will be open for potential homebuyers who earn 40%-80% of the county’s area median income.

The subdivision is still in its pre-development phase and it’s too early to begin talks on construction, Buchanan said. The $1 million awarded to it by the county will be used to accelerate the project timeline, he said.