Affordable Apartments Underway in Gautier

GAUTIER -- Construction began this week on an apartment complex that could help solve Jackson County's housing shortage.

The 20-acre complex on south Martin Bluff Road will provide 128 apartments. Because the project was given tax breaks through the Mississippi Corporation Low Income Tax Credit program, the rents will be lower than market average. Likewise, financing for the apartments is offered at below market rates.

Garry Hughes, president of the Hughes Companies Construction of Louisville, Miss., is building the Bayou Village apartments, which is scheduled to be finished by summer 2008.

Chris Hughes, the company's vice president, said the family-owned business has been building apartment complexes since 1967. He said the company wants to be a part of the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort because affordable housing is still a must for the Coast.

Hughes said the apartments will offer a full package of amenities because his company received a tax credit for the project. He said Bayou Village will help alleviate the affordable housing shortage that plagues Jackson County and the Gulf Coast.

"It's not section 8 housing," Hughes said. "Tenants will be responsible for their own rent."

The complex will have two- and three-bedroom apartments. The gated-community will also feature a swimming pool, a club house and an exercise facility complete with a weight room.

"Each apartment will also have a washer and dryer as part of the appliance package," Hughes said. "It a very nice project."

The construction company wanted to building in Gautier because of the city's central location, Hughes said.

"And, the apartments will be next to other apartments," Hughes said.

The company is also building apartments in Lucedale, Picayune and Columbus.

Johnny Williams, community services director, said the Bayou Village apartments are the first of three planned for Gautier.

Williams said Bayou Marina, located at the former Anchor Trailer Park on U.S. 90, is in the final stages of the approval process and another development on Old Spanish Trail is in the early stages.

"This is the beginning of an economic boom for Gautier," Williams said. "Anytime a city receives a hurricane as devastating as Katrina was -- it comes back bigger and better."