MARSHALL — The developers of proposed family and senior apartment buildings in Marshall didn’t get the funding they hoped for from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. But they’re ready to try again — this time, with additional backing from Lyon County.

On Tuesday, Lyon County commissioners voted to use a total of about $224,000 in state housing funds to help support construction of a 60-unit affordable family apartment building in Marshall. Tim Trimble, of Tapestry Companies, said having outside support for the development would help as Tapestry applies for a MHFA loan and Minnesota Housing Tax Credit funding.

“We approached the city of Marshall a year ago. We did some market research and determined that outstate Minnesota has been overlooked for affordable housing when it comes to the state finance agency and tax credits,” Trimble said. “Marshall, for example, hasn’t had a new affordable project built in decades — I think 30 to 40 years.”

“We were excited when Tapestry approached us. Housing is difficult to build in general, affordable housing adds to that,” said Lauren Deutz, Marshall EDA director.

Last year, the Marshall City Council approved a pre-development agreement with Tapestry that would allow the developer to acquire city-owned land for the project for $1. The city would also provide $500,000 in Pooled TIF funds to support the extension of Paris Road for the project.

At the time, Tapestry Companies was applying for MHFA funding for the housing development.

“We applied last year for a family project as well as a senior (project). We did not get awarded either project,” Trimble said. “We’re back again this year. MHFA told us we should only apply for one, not both at the same time.”

This time, Tapestry would focus on just the affordable family housing portion of the development, Trimble said. The development would have 60 units of family housing, including one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments. The housing would be for residents who were at or below 50% of the Area Median Income.

Having additional funding support from Lyon County could help improve the proposal’s chances at applying for MHFA funding, Trimble said.

“In researching how we failed last year, one of the biggest categories was that they look for funding from outside sources beyond MHFA loan and tax credit,” he said. “Any dollars we can show coming from other sources is a big plus.”

“I really do think that additional support will help,” Deutz said. She said she is also gathering letters of support for the development from local employers.

“Any economic support helps, but also just the fact that the county believes in the project,” Trimble said.

The application deadline for the funding is in July, and Trimble said Tapestry would know whether they had been awarded funding by the end of the year. If the project is awarded funding, construction could possibly get started in 2026, he said.

Lyon County Administrator Loren Stomberg said the county had about $112,000 in state housing funds that needed to be spent by the end of 2025, and would be receiving another $112,000 at the end of this year. Those funds could be used to support the development in Marshall because it was for affordable housing, he said.

If the county chose to use its housing funds for the project, they could allocate the funds before the end of 2025, Deutz said.

“It’s obviously a need for the area,” said Commissioner Todd Draper.

Commissioners voted to use the $224,000 in housing funding for the Marshall housing development, and to sign a letter of support for the project.