HELENA — The Rocky Mountain Development Council (RMDC) announced they have completed their latest affordable housing project, the Red Alder Residences.
The last time MTN news was at Red Alder, over a half of the housing units were still under construction in October 2020. Now, the Rocky Mountain Development Council says they have finished their 85-unit Red Alder Residences.
"It feels really good to have it. It feels really nice,” says Liz Mogstad, Affordable Housing Director for RMDC. “It's satisfying to see it in something that's taken three years to create. To see it actually come to fruition is pretty awesome."
"Getting through the process of getting applications through and getting people scheduled and in, and approved. It's a lot of work but it's really rewarding because you get to meet a lot of great people and definitely see the need for affordable housing in Helena," says Cassie Buckley, the Property Manager of Red Alder.
Despite their excitement for completing their biggest affordable housing project yet, Rocky Mountain says they are still receiving more applications than expected. They’ve identified tenants for each unit with a couple hundred more on their waiting list.
"At first, we started this project and I was thinking 85 was the biggest one we've done and it felt kind of 'Oh man! Is this going to be too big?' Within a week of opening applications, I knew 'nope, it's not too big and holy cow! It might have been too small," says Mogstad.
Liz says Red Alder has made Rocky Mountain realize the housing need in our community and they have already started thinking of their next housing project for the future.
Rocky Mountain hopes to have all tenants moved in by the end of March 2021. All that is left for the project to be 100% complete is to let the snow die down to add in the remaining landscaping to the neighborhood.
