“These are working families. They don’t have the income to be able to pay market rates,” Artze said. “There isn’t a difference between this type of housing and what folks would find in a market-rate housing. The families living there are not getting any subsidies. They will pay the rent, but the rent is lower because the debt on the project was lower as a result of the tax credit.”

Wilkinson said the tax credits and the tax-exempt financing were key to the project. Fourteen leases have been signed so far, he said, with minimal marketing efforts.

“There are three phases for a developer. The first is raising the money. The second phase you build it, but much of the stress is on the contractor. The third phase is renting it and leasing it out. That is most stressful phase. You hope you have made the right analysis,” Wilkinson said. “We’re getting ready to start the most stressful part. We have so many people who have said they want to live there.”

The one-bedroom units average 971 square feet, and the two-bedroom units average 1,344 square feet. The project has just one three-bedroom unit, at 1,723 square feet. About half of the units in the first phase and about 80 percent in the second phase are one-bedroom units.