KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011 / NEWS
HOUSING
7A
Lawrence builds low-income housing
BY LAURA SATHER
lsather@kansan.com
Four more low-income housing units will go up in Lawrence thanks to a $475,000 grant given to the City of Lawrence.With the help of the organization Tenants to Homeowners,the city has set one of the four locations at a vacant lot at 2123 Rhode Island. The other three remain up in the air.
Margene Swarts, assistant director for Development Services for the city, said the city may make entirely new buildings for the units, or it may just refurbish old buildings. She also said the housing will be geared more toward families, but that's not to say that students can't live there.
City council members raised a
"Some students are families," Swarts said. "That doesn't necessary preclude them."
concern in the city commission meeting last week, saying that in a two-bedroom unit, four students may try to squeeze in to reduce rent. Swarts said that since these units are geared toward families, that idea hasn't been an issue.
Rebecca Buford, executive director for Tenants to Homeowners, said the organization only owns land east of Massachusetts Street, making these properties farther from campus and less likely to see a problem with students squeezing people in
She also said she hopes the families who rent these properties will own them; the goal of these properties is to help families make a transition into homeownership.
"When you talk about low income housing, that freaks people out. "It freaks neighbors out," Buford said. "We're talking about workforce housing."
Tenants in these properties would have to meet certain income eligibility requirements. The tenants in one property will have to make 50 percent of the annual average income of Douglas County, while the other three properties will require tenants to make 80 percent of that number. The actual monetary value of those figures depends on how big the families are that rent the units.
Buford said students are more than welcome to rent these properties as well, as long as they meet the requirements. She also said the properties will be especially helpful for recent graduates looking for a more permanent place to live.
She said the first property's construction could begin as early as March and be rentable by the summer.
Edited by Becca Harsch
The vacant at 1212 Rhode Island Isle is the future site for a housing project subserved by the city. With the help of the organization Transit Homeowner, there are the project is envisioned more families in Maryland, Margaret's assistant for development for Development Services for the city, said it would innoce to students as well.
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