The Villas at Reid Landing, a future 55 and over senior living facility, was one of only 10 housing projects awarded money from the Commonwealth’s Affordable and Special Needs Housing Loans.

The senior living facility will be located on William Reid Drive off of Godwin Boulevard.

The city of Suffolk has been working with Gardner Capital Development Inc. and Halcon Properties to gather funding and make the project possible.

“The Villas at Reid Landing is an age-restricted, 55-and-over senior living facility that will have 51 units with several options of one, two and three bedroom sizes with a target population including teachers, police officers, firefighters and other professionals and qualified residents in the area,” Director of Planning David Hainley stated in an email.

Gardner Capital is the developer for the project, and they will hire a construction firm.

Gardner Capital and Halcon Properties applied for the funds in 2017, but funds were not approved until late February of this year. Gardner Capital also applied and secured $700,000 in tax credits from the state, according to Hainley. The city was not involved in any acquisition of the funds.

The city did contribute to the funding of the project with a commitment from City Council. In 2017, Suffolk City Council committed $425,000 from its Housing and Urban Development entitlement funding.

“The collaboration helped win approval for the application,” Hainley said in an email. “This was a collaborative effort, and funding sources want to see collaborative efforts when developers submit applications. Suffolk’s application was strong due to its partnering with the city of Suffolk early in the process.”

Suffolk has been involved with the project for 18 months prior to the funding from the state.

“The project will not require any additional government funding; private dollars will be used to bridge the funding gap,” Hainley said in an email.

The construction of the project will begin this summer, and it will be completed within 18 months.

About 23 applications for the grants were received, requesting more than $17.5 million. These proposals were reviewed, evaluated and scored with proposals then ranked and award offers recommended to the highest-ranking proposals based on funding availability. The 10 funded projects represent a proposed investment of more than $6.5 million and will create or preserve 451 affordable housing units.

The Villas at Reid Landing received the second-highest amount, second only to the city of Alexandria, which received $1.6 million for a redevelopment.