24 families will have new homes Saturday
Read more: Local, State, Community, Rich Strycker, Greccio Housing, Federal Stimulus Money, Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust, Partners in Housing, Low Income, Colorado Springs, Family
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Twenty-four Colorado Springs families will have new homes Saturday thanks in part to a large sum of federal stimulus money.
Greccio Housing, a local nonprofit organization that serves low income families, recently purchased an apartment complex with $2 million in grant money from the Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
Now it has leased the apartment homes to low-income families in the city.
The complex Greccio purchased is known as the Bentley Commons. Originally built in 2006 the homes have been in foreclosure for the past three years.
The effort was a collaboration between Greccio Housing, Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust and Partners in Housing.
It's a project all three organizations said was made possible by the stimulus money.
"Without the stimulus money we probably would not have been interested in buying it, and probably would not have been able to finance it if we were interested in buying it," Rich Strycker said.
Strycker said all of the units in the apartment complex have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. He said many of the families who are moving in are currently living below the poverty line.
"We have some coming from other apartment complexes, some are coming from places like shelters, places that are not as desirable as these," Strycker said.
As for rent, Strycker said it will range from $360 per month up to $570 plus utilities.
He said this is the largest mass move-in of new residents Greccio and its partners have ever seen.
"We are starting at 8:30 tomorrow morning and expect to do it with synchronization throughout the day, doing the last series of move-ins around 5:00," Strycker said.
The remaining land on the property will most likely be developed in the future.
Strycker said he hopes Bentley Commons will become a cornerstone in the surrounding community.