Members of the Andalusia City Council on Tuesday joined developer Frank Thomas, who with his partners is developing the Cottages at Packer Field, for a groundbreaking.

Thomas is a Montgomery housing developer. His partners in the project include Julian Boyd, Chase Allen, Billy Cotter and Kathleen O’Ferrell.

The partners plan to build 22 new rental houses in the first phase of this development, and will add additional houses in the future. There will be a mix of 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom houses, that will be leased at market value. The houses should be available by early spring.

Mayor Earl Johnson said he could not overstate the importance of this project.

“We have needed new, modern housing for years,” he said. “We have lost potential economic development prospects who would have located here if we had had available housing for their employees.”

City administrator John Thompson noted that the property had been held in a trust for years, and the city had permission to use it for sports practices.

“When it came on the market, Sue Wilson reached out to let us know about it immediately,” he said. “It was the perfect, flat space to build new housing, with access to infrastructure already in place.

Thomas said the cottages will have hardie board exteriors, granite countertops, and stainless appliances.

Tina Caskey, regional manager of Regency Multifamily, which will manage leasing for the development, said that she already has units in other communities leased to people who work in Andalusia, but live elsewhere because they could not find housing here.

For leasing information, email , or call 334-766-1926.