Habitat for Humanity-Spokane is developing a fiveplex and two duplexes near Mission Park in North Spokane that together will provide housing for nine families. The total project cost, including the property, materials, and construction is estimated at $1.1 million.

The fiveplex will have three three-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units, and the duplexes each will have two-bedroom units, says Michone Preston, the nonprofit's executive director here. The project is located at 1601 E. Boone, three blocks south of Mission Avenue and about a block east of the Spokane River.

The two-bedroom units will have about 900 square feet of floor space each, and the three-bedroom units each will have about 1,000 square feet of space, Preston says.

The average cost of the units will be about $125,000 each, Preston says, adding that costs are held down because much of the labor involved in constructing Habitat homes is donated. Construction on the complex began recently and should be completed by the end of June next year, Preston says.

The architect is Copeland Architecture & Construction Inc., of Spokane, she says.

The nine families who will live in the new homes have been selected and assigned to the units, she says. The families will own the homes and pay a mortgage to Habitat for Humanity.

To qualify for a Habitat home, a family must live in substandard-housing, have an income below Spokane's median income level, be willing to work at least 500 hours on Habitat projects, and have an ability to repay the interest-free home loan over 20 to 30 years. Habitat only offers homeownership opportunities, rather than rental arrangements, and says the typical monthly house payment program recipients pay for a home here is $350.

Habitat for Humanity-Spokane has been operating here since 1987, and, counting the nine living units in the Boone Avenue project, the nonprofit will have constructed 205 homes for low-income families, Preston says.