The second phase of construction at Highland Village in Airway Heights is underway and set to add 16 single-family homes and 51 apartment units to the development, those involved in the project say.

The central address for the development is 13225 W. First, located on the southwest corner of the Spokane County Overnight RV Park on west Sprague Avenue in Airway Heights.

The construction value for the multifamily dwellings is $16.2 million, says Deb Elzinga, president and CEO of Community Frameworks, a Spokane-based nonprofit that's developing the apartment buildings. The cost includes multiple buildings comprised of three to four living units each, breezeways connecting the buildings, exterior staircases, and a community building, she says. 

Walker Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the apartment project and Spokane-based Architecture All Forms Corp. and Liberty Lake-based Greenstone Homes are designing it. The project is slated to be completed by the end of September, bringing a total of 75 rental units built in two phases.

“Our primary audience for the rentals and homes is the residents living in mobile home parks near Fairchild Air Force Base,” Elzinga says.

The 16 single-family homes are being built in partnership with Greenstone Homes, says Michelle Girardot, chief executive officer for Habitat for Humanity-Spokane. Greenstone is working to support Habitat for Humanity's goal of selling the homes at cost, with homes ranging in price from $270,000 to $340,000 depending on the size, she adds.

The construction value is $5.36 million, Girardot says. The homes are slated to be completed next spring. 

“We’re really thrilled,” she says. “We’ve got 16 families that we are working in partnership with right now and getting them prepared to buy their homes once we have the certificates of occupancy.”

The families set to purchase the 16 homes have been working in partnership with Habitat for Humanity for the past 18 to 24 months and will contribute to the building of their homes in addition to other partnership hours such as landscaping and becoming financially stable, Girardot says. 

In the first phase of the project, Habitat for Humanity-Spokane built 14 single-family homes that were sold to families living below 80% of the area median income, Girardot says. 

As previously reported by the Journal of Business, the Highland Village development is a three-phase project rising on a 20-acre site and is expected to total about 150 residential units. The development is a cooperative effort involving the city of Airway Heights, Spokane County, Greater Spokane Incorporated, and the nonprofit housing developers to create affordable housing in Airway Heights and move residents currently living in the flight path near the end of the main runway at Fairchild.

The final phase of the development is in the design phase and likely will feature all single-family homes for purchase or rent, Elzinga says.