Pima County Approves Two Affordable Housing Projects
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in its June 20 meeting to move forward on two proposals that will develop or preserve 203 affordable housing rental units.
The approval will allow the county to enter into contract negotiations with two vendors, whose proposals total $2.625 million.
The Pima County Community & Workforce Development Department solicited the proposals earlier this year. Seven proposals were reviewed and scored by CWD staff before being presented to the Pima County Regional Affordable Housing Commission for input. The Housing Commission unanimously voted to submit the two highest-scoring proposals for the Board’s approval.
Those two highest-scoring projects, in order of score received, were:
- Southwest Non-profit Housing Corporation – Rio Mercado; 107 affordable rental units, new construction, $2.125 million
- Family Housing Resources – Talavera Apartments; rehab and preservation of 96 affordable rental units, $500,000
The approval of the proposals includes a commitment to a 30-year housing affordability period, with property management ensuring all households are at or below 80% of area median income.
On Oct. 18, 2022, the Board of Supervisors allocated $5 million for affordable housing, $4 million of which was budgeted to offer gap funding for affordable housing development and preservation. The remaining $1.375 million in gap funding in this fiscal year will be rolled over to fiscal year 2023-24, which begins July 1.
Applications were open to qualified nonprofit and for-profit developers, builders, government agencies and partnerships. The county will issue another Request for Proposal for the next fiscal year in a few months.
“What was exciting about the process was that we got seven very good proposals,” said Pima County Deputy County Administrator Dr. Francisco Garcia, who oversees the Community & Workforce Development Department.
“They were very different from each other and were different kinds of projects – restoration, new home building, multi-housing, single family. I think it bodes well for the future of affordable housing in this community to have that creativity.”
