Havre de Grace held a groundbreaking on Monday for the long-awaited Village at Blenheim Run, an affordable apartment community that will have two buildings with 51 apartment units, along with retail and office space.

Maryland Secretary of Housing and Community Development Kenneth Holt, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, and Maryland Municipal League President and Mayor of Salisbury Jacob Day joined city and county officials, the former owners of the property and representatives from the developers for the groundbreaking of the four-story complex on Pulaski Highway near the existing Swan Creek development.

“Blenheim Run will provide high-quality, modern, affordable housing for Havre de Grace and Harford County,” Holt said in a news release.

The land that the new community will be built on was owned by the Bonnett family since 1856, and the property was originally a 50-acre farm. When the family was ready to sell and looked for buyers, the deciding factor for them to sell was best use of the land, Donald Bonnett said.

The family had a few offers that fell through the process, Donald said.

When Green Street Housing, of Salisbury, approached Donald Bonnett, the real estate developer informed him the land would be used for affordable housing and financed by tax credits. Swan Creek was a major factor in the deal, Bonnett said, because it showed developers that the area was eligible for tax credit, which is a major source of financing for the project.

“With the growth of Aberdeen and warehousing and all the new businesses, they needed housing for this particular type of business model,” said Margie Bonnett, daughter of Donald Bonnett.

Green Street Housing, which has built communities throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, partnered with another affordable housing developer, TM Development, to complete the project. Both are known for their green building practices, including Green Street’s use of onsite solar energy production at some of its communities, according to a news release.

The developers had to resolve two major hurdles: the annexation that makes sure the property has water and sewer; and cost increases for development.

In December 2018, Havre de Grace City Council held a public hearing where officials discussed an ordinance that would limit new sewer service connections only to addresses within Havre de Grace, meaning no properties outside the city limits would be eligible. The site plan for Blenheim Run showed the site was just past the city-county boundary.

Construction costs of projects in general have increased because of supply chain increases and the war in Ukraine, Miller said.

“Every time we turned around it was a new price increase. We have never had so many price adjustments,” said David Layfield, founder of Green Street Housing. “Affordable housing development is not for the faint [of] heart.”

Developers of the Village at Blenheim received $15 million in tax credits from the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development to help finance the project, according to Thomas Ayd, co-founder of Green Street Housing. That raised a $13.7 million investment from Bank of America, he said.

That investment was followed by a $500,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta’s Affordable Housing program and a $250,000 grant from Harford County.

The Baltimore Metropolitan Council has designated 10 vouchers for very low income families, Ayd said.

Eighty percent of the first phase of the development is complete and expected to be finished in 15 months, Layfield said. That phase includes a four-story building with elevator offering a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The developer also hopes to add 70 units in the future.

The development will be the first mixed-use, mixed-income project in Havre de Grace, said Mayor William Martin.

“We have done a lot of things in the last seven years in Havre de Grace to really put our mark on the future,” Martin said. “We are so excited about this project because it gives everyone who wants to live here the opportunity to live here in a very inclusive city. We are very proud.”

Representatives from Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development are joined by a host of local dignitaries including Maryland Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Peter Franchot and Maryland Secretary of Housing Kenneth Holt as they break ground for the Village at Blenheim Run affordable housing project in Havre de Grace Monday, April 4, 2022. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Maryland Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Peter Franchot, right, is joined by, from left, Salibury Mayor Jake Day, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, Havre de Grace Mayor Bill Martin, and Maryland Secretary of Housing Kenneth Holt as he talks about the importance of affordable housing in Maryland during the Village at Blenheim Run affordable housing groundbreaking in Havre de Grace Monday, April 4, 2022. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Representatives from Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development are joined by a host of local dignitaries including Maryland Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Peter Franchot and Maryland Secretary of Housing Kenneth Holt as they break ground for the Village at Blenheim Run affordable housing project in Havre de Grace Monday, April 4, 2022. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)