AUSTIN, Minn. - Another affordable housing option is on the way in Austin.
The city held a groundbreaking ceremony for the 1st And 3rd Apartments complex today.
At the ceremony, Mayor Steve King gave a speech about the importance of affordable housing in the city.
He was joined by representatives of Austin's Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Mower County's Board of Commissioners, and the Hormel Foundation.
Leading the charge for the apartments' construction is Three Rivers Community Action. The non-profit has already helped bring affordable housing like Fox Pointe to the city.
These new apartments will be a mix of one to four-bedroom units. The apartments will be focused on large working families. These families often struggle the most in finding high-quality housing within their budgets.
Rent will be set at 30 percent, 50 percent, and 60 percent of the area median income.
Leah Hall, the community development director of Three Rivers, says these amounts were chosen to serve as many possible tenants as they can.
"We often have different varying rent levels so we can serve varying amounts of people," she said. "Our funding partner, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, also asks us to do that. That's part of their guidelines, to make sure projects serve a larger swath of the community."
The city still has a long way to go in reaching its target number of affordable housing units. For HRA Executive Director Taggert Medgaarden, 1st and 3rd is a step in the right direction.
"This project and the Fox Pointe project that Three Rivers finished in 2019 helps check that box," he said. "That's helped create 78 units of affordable housing. We've really put a dent in some of these."
For now, the city is waiting until the newest apartment complex is complete before it starts developing the next affordable housing project.
Construction is expected to last until next summer. The apartments will start accepting tenants in the fall of 2024.
