A former Columbia motel is becoming 30 homes for working families

Homeless No More broke ground on Grand Village, a $12.8 million project at the former Grand Motel in Columbia, WIS reported. The 1950s property will be partly rehabilitated and partly new construction. Plans call for 30 one-, two-, and three-bedroom rentals for working families, including families with children, plus the James E. Christopher Community Center for after-school programs, mentoring, and financial-literacy classes.

Chief executive Lila Anna Sauls described the rents as mixed-income, from about $450 a month to about $1,100 for a three-bedroom, meant for people who are working and still priced out of the market. The site is on a bus line. The homes are not open, and no one has moved in. The groundbreaking is a start, not a finished neighborhood.