DES MOINES, Iowa — The Pointe on 88th apartments hosted a grand opening for its affordable multi-family community on Thursday.
The complex features one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with 90% of those units reserved for lower-income people.
"It's very important to give those people a chance at affordable housing, at a cost they can afford," said property manager Staesha Christianson.
The goal is for these apartments to provide Iowans a place to live at a time when inflation is contributing to rising rental prices.
But how affordable are these apartments?
One bedroom units at The Pointe on 88th are listed between $450 and $950 per month. Two bedroom units start at $530, and three bedrooms start at $600 and go up to nearly $1,200.
Yet, there's a need for affordable housing in the area, according to Major Butch Frost of the Salvation Army in Clive.
"We see a lot of individuals coming in an out of our facility," Frost said. "We receive over 300 and some calls a month, just for rental assistance alone."
And for the people the Salvation Army can assist, they help them by paying rent and utilities.
"We have people right here in our community who are hurting, and we need to evaluate what funds that we can make available to help get them back up on their feet," Frost said.
But sometimes that help still isn't enough for people.
Frost said that housing is so unaffordable that they have had to provide their services to their own people at Salvation Army, including making a first month's rent payment.
To help give Iowans more affordable living options, the city of Des Moines received more than $3 million from the American Rescue Plan Act back in 2021 to help develop affordable rental housing.
And earlier this week, the Des Moines City Council agreed to loan Anawim Housing one-third of that money to rehabilitate an empty Days Inn Motel. This will create 40 units of affordable housing, with five of those designated for people at risk of experiencing homelessness.