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The Austin City Council, on Monday night, approved a financing and development agreement for the 1st and 3rd Apartments, which officials from the project’s developers, Three Rivers Community Action, expect to break ground on by the end of the month.

The council approved the agreement unanimously after Director of Administrative Services Tom Dankert laid out project funding commitments from the following:

• $615,000 loan at 1% from the city;
• $300,000 grant (both of these will be funded through the city’s Building Fund);
• $540,000 from a decertified TIF district;
• $75,000 set aside for a realignment of existing storm water lines
• $20,000 for legal, finance advisory fees;
• $600,000 grant from the Hormel Foundation; and 
• $250,000 from Mower County.

Three River’s Susan Strandberg, who was at Monday’s meeting, said the company hopes to have the project closed by July 17.

“We hope to break ground toward the end of July,” she told the council.

The project will take shape on land owned by the Housing and Redevelopment Association  adjacent to the Post Office. The 40-unit structure is estimated to come in at an estimated $16 million with a goal to begin leasing in late 2024.

READ MORE: Planned apartments a project of teamwork

Units start at around $775 for a one-bedroom apartment and will range to around $1,250 for a four-bedroom unit.

“It’s been great for the community. We’re just going to try to add to the housing stock,” said HRA Director Taggert Medgaarden in January of this year. “We need housing in all aspects, whether that’s senior housing, affordable housing, higher-end housing — we need it all. Whatever we can do to check those boxes we’re going to do.”