The Metropolitan Transit System broke ground Thursday on 67 affordable apartments adjacent to the Encanto /62nd Street trolley station.
The Villa Encantada Apartments will include two- and three-bedroom units affordable to families earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the local median income. The apartments will be about 20 minutes from downtown via the Orange Line.
The $30 million development replaces a parking lot, but trolley riders will have access to a new parking structure. There will also be 1,000 square feet of retail space.
“We don’t like to see vacant lots around our stations,” said MTS Chairman Harry Mathis at the groundbreaking ceremony.
The apartments are being developed by AMCAL Multi-Family Housing, which has leased the property from the MTS for 55 years.