It required a solid effort for Nancy Harte to scoop dirt onto her gold shovel from the hard, compacted ground of Missoula’s new affordable housing project.

Fortunately, the real heavy lifting on this project is already complete.

Harte, who works in the Missoula Office of Planning and Grants, was one of about 50 people in attendance at Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the Silvertip Apartments. The $12.8 million, 115-apartment complex will be constructed over the next 12 months on the former site of the Missoula Athletic Club, along the Clark Fork River on East Broadway.

Thursday’s gathering was a celebration of a two-year public-private partnership that created a plan for the vacant, weed-filled lot in Hellgate Canyon.

“Missoula, to me, is the poster child of sustainable community development,” said Lawrence Gallagher, state liaison for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “What you have here is a team that knows how to get things done.”

Vacant for years, the 3.38-acre parcel will now become one- and two-bedroom apartments for low-income, moderate-income and middle-income Missoulians.

Through joint efforts by the city of Missoula, the Missoula Housing Authority and the Rocky Mountain Development Group, as well as many other local businesses, the homes will serve the needs of people in Missoula who sometimes fall through the cracks.

They are the folks who may not qualify for other low-income housing units but still struggle to pay rent in Missoula. Unlike some affordable housing projects, the complex will also offer apartments to full-time college students.

A $5 million U.S. Department of Housing Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant was awarded to the city of Missoula by the Montana Department of Commerce. That grant leveraged an additional $7.75 million to build the apartments. Also, there was a $1 million grant from the Missoula Housing Authority and a $6.75 million loan from HUD’s Multifamily Housing Program.

HUD estimates that 52 percent of Missoula renters are “cost burdened,” spending more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing costs.

The project is the first Neighborhood Stabilization Program rental in the state, said Lori Davidson, executive director of Missoula Housing Authority.

Mayor John Engen spoke at Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony, along with Rick Wishcamper, president of the Rocky Mountain Development Group, and Dore Schwinden, director of the Montana Department of Commerce.

“We always need more (affordable housing),” said Engen, “and when we build more, we should all be proud.”

Rents will range from $450 to $750 a month. Twenty units will be public housing managed by the Missoula Housing Authority and five units will be available for households making up to 120 percent of the area median income.

The apartments will come equipped with all appliances, washer and dryer, a patio or balcony and additional storage. All utilities, including heat, will be provided except electricity, telephone or television services. The plans include a play area, community center and access to the Clark Fork River.

Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com.