WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsAffordable housing development underway in MB

Affordable housing development underway in MB

By Jennifer Grove - bio | email

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – The Myrtle Beach community is taking notice as fifty units of affordable housing go in day-by-day along Mr. Joe White Avenue.

The city says Bay Pointe Apartments is the latest affordable housing development in the city, which is partially funded through an Internal Revenue Service tax credit program that the state distributes to developers.  

Progress Builders, which is constructing the development, says they are currently working on electrical and plumbing projects. They are anticipating interior and framing inspections in the next few weeks.  

"There are certain parts of that area that are not so nice," single mother Shannon Kiefer said. "For them to build nicer, new ones, it puts the low income people in better housing."  

Kiefer is living with her mother right now while she looks for a place to live that has manageable rent.   

"I miss my kids coming home and being able to go in their rooms and play," Kiefer said.

Kiefer is not alone. One-third of Myrtle Beach's residents are in need of affordable housing, according to the Census Bureau.

"We're a resort community and the closer you get to the beach, the more expensive things get," City Spokesperson Mark Kruea explained. "But we still have folks who need to live and work here in the community."

At the new Bay Pointe Apartments, rent will be capped based on income and apartments will be available in both two and three bedroom options. "Affordable Housing" is defined as rent that consumes no more than 30 percent of income.

Kiefer says she is anxious to see the apartments open and is hopeful that she will be able to get an application in when the development opens up to renters. The construction company, Progress Builders, says the build is expected to be complete by early May.

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