Work has begun on a downtown Minneapolis complex designed to put people who are homeless into affordable apartments.

A ceremony to celebrate the construction of Park7, which includes 61-unit studio apartments, is planned for Tuesday afternoon. The $11.2 million project in the 600 block of Seventh Street downtown is expected to be completed by summer 2020.

“We wanted to continue to grow our ability to house people that are experiencing homelessness,” House of Charity CEO Deb Moses said. Her nonprofit is leading the project in partnership with Community Housing Development Corp. and architect UrbanWorks.

The units will be between 350 to 430 square feet in size. Some will be reserved for veterans, others for young adults and people with disabilities. Most rents will likely be subsidized, Moses said.

According to a 2018 Wilder Research study, 10,233 people are experiencing homelessness on any given night in Minnesota — a 10 percent increase since 2015.

“We do not have enough affordable housing to meet the needs of the population,” said Stephanie Nelson-Dusek, a research scientist at Wilder. “Having affordable housing is critical.”

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Minneapolis teen charged in shooting death of campaign worker The four-story building will have 24-hour access to services and benefits like case managers, referrals for financial help, employment help and health care. The site is also near Hennepin County Medical Center.

Funding for the project comes from a variety of sources, including the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, the National Housing Trust Fund, the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Metropolitan Council and private donors. Thrivent Financial donated $1 million to help furnish the project.