Element, a planned green community www.ElementCommunity.com of 123 townhomes located in Gulfport, MS, has officially broken ground. Located on ten acres of land just three blocks from the beach, it is nested among major employment centers such as Gulfport Memorial Hospital, Island View Casino and the Port of Gulfport (currently undergoing a massive $500 million plus expansion).
Element offers 2-story, 3-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom units with attached single car garages and covered porches. These town homes will be constructed using the latest green technology, steel framing and enhanced building code wind load limits. Among the high grade interior finishes are 9 foot ceilings, eco-friendly flooring, granite slab countertops and stainless steel appliances in kitchens, paneled doors and spacious master bathrooms. Homebuyers may select from five floor plans.
Green features at Element also include low-voc paint, eco-friendly flooring, Energy Star appliances and the use of sustainable materials. Designed to be an energy efficient, eco-friendly community, homeowners will benefit from reduced costs of living through the reduction in energy consumption. The community has been planned using the National Green Building Standard for Homes program of the National Association of Home Builders.
The project was originated by New Orleans- based Intradel Corporation (Intradel) shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Intradel secured the land, handled rezoning and entitlements. To ensure the project's affordability, Intradel brought in Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NDC), a national non-profit housing organization. Intradel and NDC assembled financing through the Gulf Coast Recovery Fund of New York-based Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a national non-profit established in 1979 by the Ford Foundation. Construction financing is being provided by the Gulfport office of New Orleans-based Whitney National Bank.
About Intradel Corporation: Intradel Corporation, Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, was founded in 1993 to provide a unique blend of development services in select residential markets. Intradel's focus of operations is multifamily developments, such as garden apartment homes, urban lofts and mixed-use housing communities. Intradel specializes in servicing the multifamily industry by providing a myriad of services to investors, for profit and non-profit partners engaging in the acquisition, rehabilitation and development of multifamily communities. For further information on Intradel; visit us online at: www.intradel.com.
About Neighborhood Development Collaborative: Neighborhood Development Collaborative, a national non-profit housing organization, was organized in 1978 to address the enhancement of neighborhoods across the country, and has served as a consultant to HUD, the United States Department of Commerce, the United States Department of Veterans Administration, and a number of financial institutions. This nonprofit organization has been committed to raising the standard of living for a wide spectrum of this country's working-class citizens in need of housing. To this end, The Collaborative has purchased and revitalized apartment properties from the United States Department of the Treasury, it has worked with HUD to create home ownership through limited equity cooperatives, and it has built and rehabilitated apartment properties by raising equity with housing tax credits. All of this has been accomplished through partnerships and joint ventures with other organizations, of both the for-profit and not-for-profit varieties.