HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The Montana Department of Commerce announced Thursday that Havre’s Oakwood Village will be receiving $3.6 million in loans funded through the Multifamily Coal Trust Homes Program.
The Montana Board of Housing approved the project from Affiliated Developers, Inc. to acquire and preserve 60 affordable apartments for individuals and families at Oakwood Village.
Affiliated Developers Inc. Executive Director Kirk Bruce says Oakwood Village, which hasn’t received a major update since it was built in 1979, is in dire need of renovations.
“All new appliances, new kitchens, baths, flooring, paint, LED light fixtures, water saving faucets, toilets, new windows, roofs, sidings. A lot of sight work. Some asbestos abatement. You name it, I guess.”
Bruce adds that this loan has favorable terms for his company.
“It is a loan. It’s permanent debt. But the caveat about it is that it has extremely favorable terms. In return, we are catering, I guess, for lack of a better word, to a certain tenant population of low income housing tenants.”
The Multifamily Coal Trust Homes Program makes available dollars to develop affordable rental homes by providing housing developers with low-interest rate loans. When the loans are paid off, the money returned will be redistributed and used to fund the development of additional homes.
Bruce says construction, which will take a year to complete, will hopefully begin this summer. It will occur in five phases, with tenants being temporarily relocated while their apartments are being renovated.
