SIDNEY - A special needs housing development celebrated their official opening and full occupancy during a recent ribbon cutting ceremony in Sidney. Canterbury Estates, a project that features six two-bedroom and four one-bedroom units on Canterbury Lane, has been completed and filled with community residents.

It was on November 14, 2018 when a combination of six local and State officials participated in a ground-breaking ceremony at the location to commemorate the beginning of construction on the units. Truthfully, though, the project is one that the Sidney Housing Authority had been discussing for several years with their goal of providing quality, low budget housing to citizens in Sidney. With the available land behind one of their other properties, Western Heritage Apartments, plus the intent of offering people with disabilities a nice, affordable housing development, the decision to build Canterbury Estates was an easy one for the Housing Authority.

In total, the project cost just over $2 million, $600,000 of which was awarded to the Housing Authority through the National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and the rest on a construction loan from Security First Bank in Sidney as a local partner. HTF, a federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program administered on behalf of Nebraska by the Department of Economic Development, is available to nonprofit organizations and public housing authorities to provide housing for low-income individuals and families.

With the units being built for those with special needs, some of the amenities that are included range from walk-in showers to wider doorways, lower cabinets, and more. For more information on Canterbury Estates, contact Nancy Bentley, Executive Director of the Housing Authority, or Cindi Taylor at (308)254-3670.