(Biz New Orleans) HAMMOND, La. – HRI Communities announced today that it has closed the financing for the Hammond Station Apartments development at 1400 Southwest Railroad Avenue in Tangipahoa Parish and is set to immediately move forward with construction. The project, intended to be a catalyst for additional progress along the Railroad Avenue (Highway 51) corridor, will be a “vibrant new mixed-income community enhancing neighborhood living in the Hammond area,” said the developer in a press release.
The community will be less than a mile from the Hammond Eastside Apartments, a historic school building in downtown Hammond that HRI Communities converted into apartments and has owned and operated for 20 years.
“We have been a part of the Hammond community for decades, and we have been very active in investing in the community again in recent years,” said HRI Communities President Josh Collen. “This is an exciting new development for the Hammond area on the heels of our renovations to the Hammond Eastside Apartments we made in 2019.”
HRI plans to build a new three-story apartment building featuring 67 mixed-income units along with a fitness center, community center, community garden, bike storage area and “resilient” design features. Private financing partners include AEGON USA Realty Advisors LLC, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC and Freddie Mac. Public partners include the Louisiana Housing Corporation and the Louisiana Office of Community Development.
Guided by LHC’s PRIME program, the Hammond Station Apartments project aims to create quality housing that will stay habitable during and after natural disaster events.
“The Hammond Station Apartments combine resilience and sustainability in their design, meaning less damage in future storms and less negative environmental impacts every day,” OCD Executive Director Pat Forbes said. “And, the Office of Community Development strongly supports construction of mixed-income communities like the Hammond Station Apartments, because they provide beautiful, resilient, sustainable housing that is affordable to everyone.”
