Affordable apartments added

For less than $300 a month, families can rent a brand-new, two-bedroom apartment in Post Falls equipped with a microwave oven, computer connections and a manager to attend to problems around the clock.

That’s practically a steal in an area where rents and sale prices for housing are rapidly climbing out of reach for the construction workers who build those homes. Rents in Kootenai County now average $650 a month for two-bedroom units and start at about $750 a month for three-bedroom homes or apartments.

“The housing we provide is for the work force, the people in agriculture, fast food, janitorial services, construction trades,” said Caleb Roope, manager of Pacific Communities of Idaho, the developer of Post Falls’ new 54-unit Park Ridge Apartments. “They’re typically underserved, not in a position to buy a home, and rents are moving out of their grasp as well.”

Pacific Communities is based in Nampa, Idaho, and builds work-force housing in 11 Western states. Roope said a market study showed a need in Post Falls and the western end of Coeur d’Alene for more housing for people in jobs that pay $8 an hour to $15 an hour.

The Idaho Housing and Finance Association helped pay for the project through its Housing Tax Credit program. The tax-credit program has helped add to the state 177 affordable apartment complexes with more than 7,750 units. Of those, 24 developments with 1,088 units are in Kootenai County and 11 of those 24 were built since 2000, said Reed Hollinshead, IHFA spokesman.

Park Ridge is still empty, but 25 of its apartments already are committed, Roope said. Monthly rents for two-bedroom apartments will range from $282 to $564, and rents for three-bedroom apartments will range from $325 to $651. Qualified renters will pay about 30 percent of their monthly income in rent and must meet Park Ridge’s minimum income requirements.

Residents of Park Ridge will share a community room with computer connections, exercise equipment and a television. A manager will live in the complex, Roope said.

He opened his company in 1998 targeting the working class.

“That segment is often ignored,” he said. “They can’t qualify for low-income help and can’t afford a home. It became our mission.”

Park Ridge is located at the corner of Second and Spencer in Post Falls.