Spokane Mental Health has secured most of the funding it needs to construct a 14-unit apartment building that will house people with mental disabilities, says Spokane-based real estate firm Goodale & Barbieri Co., which is overseeing the project.

Sheryldene Rogers, director of residential development for Goodale & Barbieri, says Spokane Mental Health recently was awarded a $1.7 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant toward construction of the complex, which is to be called Sylvan Place. The nonprofit hopes to begin construction by next summer so that units will be ready to occupy in the summer of 2012, she says.

Rogers says the funds are well over half of the total money needed to construct the project, which is to be located on vacant land at 2207 E. Francis on Spokane's North Side.

It plans to apply to the Washington state Housing Trust Fund and the city of Spokane for additional grants to complete the financing for the project, Rogers says.

In addition to the capital grants, HUD has awarded a three-year rent subsidy grant of $168,300 to ensure that residents pay no more than 30 percent of their income for rent and utilities combined, Rogers says. After three years, Sylvan Place can renew rental subsidies for those who qualify over an additional 37-year period, she says.

Clark General Contractors LLC, a subsidiary of T.W. Clark Construction LLC, of Spokane, will be the contractor on the project, and Michael Fancher & Associates, of Seattle, is designing it, she says.

Preliminary designs show the two-story building will have 10,200 square feet of living space, including some shared space intended to encourage tenants to socialize.

The building also will have a small computer lab with Internet access to help residence enhance their education, apply for jobs, and communicate electronically, Rogers says.

Spokane Mental Health provides treatment and services for people with mental illness. Sylvan place will target people whose mental illness contributes to their chronic unemployment, she says.

It is the fourth project sponsored by Spokane Mental Health in as many years.

Its most recent project is Centerstone, a $3 million, 17-unit complex that serves developmentally disabled residents. That complex includes two buildings at 718 W. Maxwell that opened recently, and one at 617 W. Spofford that will open soon, Rogers says.

Earlier this year, Spokane Mental Health opened Colville Meadows, a 14-unit, two-story apartment structure in Colville, Wash., that's designed to house chronically mentally ill.