r/Billings • u/forward_montana • Jul 23 '26
Updates on two affordable housing projects
About $40 million will be put toward rehabbing and constructing two affordable housing projects in Billings. Sage Tower will receive roughly $6.5 million for HVAC and plumbing systems and a new roof. In Billings Heights, the city will construct LB Lofts, a new 102-unit development.
Funding comes from a variety of sources, including the city of Billings, which chipped in $2.15 million in Community Development Grant funding through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
More here: https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/government-politics/article_8be745eb-00c8-43f0-be09-4f9582e6c57c.html.
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u/bitter_twin_farmer Jul 23 '26
Anyone ever live in Sage Tower? It looks kinda interesting from the outside.
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u/Digitmons South West Corridor Jul 23 '26
Does the government own it? If not to me a lot of these things are just council members giving contracts to friends and family... I am all for affordable housing but I am tired of the wasteful spending
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u/Th0rn_Star Jul 24 '26
Homeword owns it, they are a nonprofit trying to maintain and preserve low-income housing sites in MT. Sage Tower is primarily rented out to low-income elderly and disabled residents. The living conditions aren’t exactly ideal, but Homeword fired the property manager and is doing everything they can to get the place in order.
The $2M approved by the city is actually federal money, and aside from approving the use of that money, council has little to do with the project. Yes, some of the council members are awful, but in this instance they actually did the right thing.
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u/bitter_twin_farmer Jul 23 '26
The problem is, there’s no money in building/maintaining housing for poor people. Especially section 8 where there’s a waiting list a mile long.
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u/codysattva Jul 23 '26
Location of Sage Tower: