On Thursday, the city broke ground on a new affordable housing development in the Maysville neighborhood in Mobile—the first east of Interstate 65 in 40 years, Jose Alvarez, regional administrator for the southeast at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Thursday.
“Across this country, there’s been a lack of construction of affordable housing,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said at the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday. “We’re behind the curve on that.”
Maryvale Place, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2024, will be a multi-family apartment complex with 96 units, according to a news release sent out by the city of Mobile. Those units will be income-restricted; Housing Choice Vouchers will be available for families living in the complex through the Mobile Housing Authority. The complex will include one, two and three-bedroom units, as well as specially designed units for people living with disabilities.
The development will be a public-private collaboration, the release says: Tuscaloosa-based Hollyhand Companies will construct the project, which is expected to cost $29 million. The city of Mobile will contribute about $7.7 million to the project, $7 million of which comes from the HUD HOME program. The remainder of the city’s contribution will come from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
The Alabama Multi-Family Loan Consortium is providing a $6.5 million mortgage for the development. Hollyhand will finance $12 million through equity raised by low-income tax credits and tax-exempt bond financing from the Alabama Housing Finance Authority.
