By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Stafford County Economic Development (SCED) has used a few different affordable housing programs to build 10 single-family homes spread across Stafford County. Stafford County reached out to Housing Opportunities Inc. (HOI) to take over the property management of the 10 rentals.
HOI Executive Director Callie Miller said HOI has been developing and managing affordable housing in Barton and Pawnee counties since 1996, and will now take over the day-to-day operation of the rentals in Stafford County.
"We are taking over the management and maintenance of the rental units," said Miller. "We will do all the applications, compliance, reporting and on-staff maintenance guys will take care of any maintenance issues over there."
HOI already runs several housing units in Barton, Pawnee, Rice and Scott counties. Miller was excited to expand their role into Stafford County and potentially create partnerships for future housing there.
"HOI has been looking to expand our services and service area for some time now," said Miller. "When SCED approached us about taking on the management of their rental units, it was the perfect opportunity to do just that. HOI has partnered with SCED, in the past to build single family homes, and we are happy to partner with them again on this venture. This partnership supports HOI’s mission by serving both low- and moderate-income families with their rental portfolio. It also opens the door to future project partnerships as SCED continues to look at ways to address Stafford County’s housing shortage. We are excited to see where this new partnership takes us!"
The 10 houses are three-bedroom homes spread out in St. John, Stafford, Hudson and Macksville.
"Three of the units are occupied," said Miller. "We have one unit vacant in Hudson. Three units in St. John just completed construction last month so they're available for rent. The two in Macksville are still under construction."
The units rent for either $500 or $550 per month and have income limits for the renters.
The two companies entered a partnership that officially began on March 1.
“Stafford County Eco Devo’s rental portfolio has grown from three units to eleven in just over a year with two more houses still under construction,” the Executive Director of SCED, Kathleen Norman, commented. “They (HOI) are well suited to handle the complex compliance and reporting requirements of the new rental houses which were primarily funded by two affordable housing programs.”