Catholic Charities to build apartment complex in Mattawa

MATTAWA — Construction should start in the fall on a new apartment complex for low-income Mattawa residents.

The $16.4 million project, on a six-acre parcel west of state Route 243 on Pat-Chee Drive, will be built by Catholic Charities of Central Washington and funded through low-interest loans and housing tax credits from the State Housing Trust Fund administered by the Washington Department of Commerce.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a Department of Commerce press release.

Holly Anderson, housing development manager for Catholic Charities, said the organization received a $4.5 million low-interest loan, with the rest of the project funded through the tax credits.

“We are fully funded with these two awards,” Anderson said. “We are building 60 apartments and 59 of them will be for low-income families.”

The 60th will be housing for a complex manager.

There’s no date for groundbreaking, but Anderson said the design process is already underway and the site plan has been completed.

“We have done quite a bit of work with our architects,” she said.

Apartments will have two, three and four bedrooms, with the majority three bedrooms. A community center, playground and walking path also are part of the project. The complex should be ready for occupancy by fall 2022, with applications accepted beginning in summer 2022.

The apartments are, Anderson said, a sign of growth in the Mattawa area.

“Mattawa is expanding,” Anderson said.

It will be the second apartment complex built and managed by Catholic Charities in Mattawa.

“It is completely new,” Anderson said. “The current housing stock (in Mattawa) is just really overcrowded.”

The existing Catholic Charities apartment complex, Villa Santa Maria, has a waiting list — a long waiting list.

“We have well over 200 families already on a waiting list,” Anderson said.

Catholic Charities has been building housing in central Washington for about 20 years, Anderson said. Steve Wilmes, director of development for Catholic Charities, said the organization has built projects in Quincy, Warden, George, and two in Royal City, as well as projects in Mattawa.

The housing program covers seven counties: Grant, Chelan, Douglas, Yakima, Benton, Klickitat and Kittitas.