CAPTION: Dignitaries mark the launch of Yaquina Hall housing construction with a ground-breaking ceremony February 2.

The project will provide housing for those experiencing homelessness, as well as those with serious and persistent mental illness.

The completed project will include 52 apartments.

Twenty of those units will provide intensive case management and will be considered Permanent Supportive Housing reserved for individuals referred from Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency (Arches). The remaining 32 units will be reserved for people on the Salem Housing Authority wait list.

Work to prepare for this project started in 2016. Salem Housing Authority worked through many challenges, delays, a pandemic, and funding gaps, among others. The real estate transaction closed in December 2021. Cost to complete the project is $18.6 million. Expected timeline to finish is 14 months.

In addition to Salem Housing Authority and City of Salem, other partners in the project include:

• US Bank
• Oregon Housing and Community Services
• NOAH (Network for Oregon Affordable Housing)
• Housing and Urban Development
• AC & Co. Architecture
• Walsh Construction