Leone & Keeble Inc., of Spokane, has begun work on two construction projects for the Oroville Housing Authority to improve farm worker housing near Oroville, Wash., about 180 miles northwest of Spokane.

The $3.2 million in combined projects will include construction of a $1.8 million 10-unit housing complex, to be called the East Oroville Harvest Park, as well as a second project that will involve constructing a new road and sewer line to the complex. The building site is located about a quarter-mile northeast of the city of Oroville, says Brendan Monroe, a project manager with Leone & Keeble.

The housing complex will have five buildings with a combined 16,000 square feet of floor space, and will include nine two-bedroom units and one unit that can be used for either a one-bedroom housing unit or an office. A 600-foot paved road to be called Harvest Street will connect Sawtell Road to the site. A 1,600-foot sewer main will be added along 1,000 feet of Sawtell Road and the 600-foot-long new road up to the housing complex, Monroe says.

Zeck Butler Architects PS, of Spokane, designed the projects. Construction is slated to begin later this month and to be completed next spring, Monroe says.

The project is being funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Washington state Housing Trust Fund, and the Washington state Department of Commerce, he says.

Most farmers in the fruit-growing region around Oroville have cabins for seasonal farm workers who migrate into the area to pick fruit. The new wood-frame housing project provides better housing for those workers, with indoor bathrooms, kitchen appliances, and separate bedrooms, Monroe says.