The Reno Housing Authority broke Ground for more affordable housing in downtown Sparks on Wednesday.

 The Reno Housing Authority held a groundbreaking ceremony for 15 affordable housing units near downtown Sparks Wednesday, targeting low-income households.

The rent prices will be as low as $556 for a single bedroom and about $1,336 for a double bedroom.

After a year of planning and budgeting, the ball is starting to roll on getting more affordable housing in the region.

The Railyard Flats will consist of nine one-bedroom units and six two-bedrooms. 

The housing will be right next to Victorian Square, an RTC bus station, and have onsite parking.

The target households they're looking to help are ones that make about $20,000 for single person living and about $50,000 for a three-person household.

"So, it's really designed to provide affordable housing for folks that aren't going to find it otherwise," said J.D. Klippenstein, Director of Development for the Reno Housing Authority.

One challenge with making affordable housing, well, affordable, is that the cost of construction is still high.

However, funding from the Home Means Nevada initiative, one-million dollars from the Washoe County Home Consortium, and about five million from the RHA made this project possible.

"Being able to access this funding really helps us to continue to afford to construct these types of units and on the back end make the rents affordable to the households we're looking to serve," said Dr. Hilary Lopez, Executive Director for the Reno Housing Authority.

Some may wonder, why is the Reno Housing Authority involved with housing in Sparks, but they have projects all over Washoe County.

"We are the Reno Housing Authority by name, but we truly serve the entire region," Klippenstein said.

For Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson, making more affordable is key to keeping people together.

"In the great recession I lost my kids when they graduated from college because there were no jobs," Mayor Lawson said. "Now we're losing another generation of kids because they can't afford to live here and to me it's all about family and having your family close by is all important to me."

The RHA is hoping that construction on the units will finish in December and have leases go out in January of next year.

The housing authority also says they have more affordable housing projects coming in the future.