If you have driven by the area of 141st Street and Cumberland Road, you have likely seen the ongoing construction of the Cumberland Cottages residential development, by housing nonprofit HAND Incorporated.
HAND Executive Director Andrea Davis says she and her staff will be doing the “punch walk” inspection looking for minor issues this week. She expects construction to be complete in about 3 weeks. Once construction is done, tenants will begin moving-in.
There are 11 rental units in Cumberland Cottages, 6 will be rented as affordable housing, the remaining 5 will be at market rate.
Davis says 42 applications for housing at Cumberland Cottages has been received, most for the affordable units. HAND is looking for opportunities to fill the market rate units with folks who are also in need of affordable housing. “We need to get creative about that,” Davis says.
The market rate rental costs are not yet available for Cumberland Cottages. For the affordable housing units, the rent is a bit complicated, tied to the percentage of family income of the area median income levels established by House & Urban Development (HUD).
For those qualifying at 40% of the area median income, there are two 2-bedroom units renting for $759 a month.
For those qualifying at 50% of area median income, there is one 3-bedroom unit renting for $1,125 per month.
If you qualify at 60% of area median income, there is one 2-bedroom unit renting for $954 a month…..and two 3-bedroom units renting for $1,265 per month.
As to how area median income is defined for Cumberland Cottages, it is based on the size of the household. Here is the information provided by HAND:
The original Cumberland Cottages plan was for 11 detached units, but budget challenges changed that. However, HAND is looking forward to opening the project.
“We’re really excited,” says Davis. “This is the first of this kind of design that we’ve done with the homes oriented around shared green space, it’s called a cottage court design.”
An opening ceremony is tentatively planned for mid-July, even though there will already be residents living there.
