The Stella, a newly developed 34-unit apartment complex at 1236 Bliss St., opened leases in February, offering 30 affordable apartment units along with community-focused amenities. As of now, 32 of the units are already occupied.
“If I had 34 more, they’d all be filled. That’s how much need there is in the community,” said Tamme Cornell, property manager of The Stella. “People don’t understand that families are struggling, and they really honestly need more investors to erect affordable housing, homes, townhomes, apartments.”
Low-income housing units are priced in various ways, with some units income-based and available to those earning 80 percent, 60 percent or 40 percent of Grinnell’s median income. Additionally, the units accept Section 8 vouchers, a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that provides rental assistance to low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities.
The Stella’s impact
“I think that it’s a great property for the community,” said Kate Slater, executive director of the Grinnell Housing Authority. “It opens up more housing options, and the bedroom size is helpful because it has more than two bedrooms, which opens it up to more family options or larger households.”
The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) has granted $980,441 in low-income housing tax credits to the project. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a one-time $500,000 grant through its HOME program, which distributes funds to state and local governments to support affordable housing and homeownership.
“We need more,” Cornell said. “We must have more.”
The complex welcomed its first tenant at the end of February.
“It works hand in hand with our families that are struggling to find affordable housing, to be able to have brand-new construction at a price that’s affordable,” Cornell said. “All of the Stella homes and apartments include water, trash and sewer with the rent, so they don’t have to pay for that, which has been really helpful to a lot of people.”
The need for affordable housing
The project was approved in 2022 after the 2020 Grinnell Housing Assessment highlighted a lack of affordable housing in town. The Stella was proposed along with several other low-income housing projects in response to the assessment’s findings.
“The city contains the necessary infrastructure and facilities to support growth but has been historically limited by a lack of quality housing units and higher land/homeownership costs,” read the 2020 Grinnell Housing Assessment.
More recently, Build a Better Grinnell found that “more housing projects” was the 11th priority among the 603 community members who participated in their research.
“Grinnell residents want more affordable housing,” read the 2024 PlanGrinnell, a road map and vision for Grinnell’s future in the next 10 to 20 years made by the City. The report found that affordable housing had 31.4 percent of votes for the biggest challenge to address in the community.
Other low-income housing projects in Grinnell include the Spaulding Lofts apartments, located next to city hall, and The Row on Reed, located near the hospital, which the city has been more involved in. Both developments received Workforce Housing tax credits.
