By Gary Nelson, The Republic | azcentral.com
Eighteen months ago, it was a crumbling Truman-era motel used as a homeless shelter, so decrepit that some units were uninhabitable and the faucets spewed brown water.
Now, La Mesita Family Homeless Shelter has become La Mesita Apartments, a modern four-story complex looming over the racks near the Tempe border.
The project at 2254 W. Main St. is the most ambitious undertaking ever launched by A New Leaf, a multipurpose social-service agency born in Mesa 43 years ago.
It makes its public debut in a dedication ceremony 1 p.m. Monday, March 31. Officials from the city, A New Leaf and the Arizona Department of Housing are expected to speak.
The state housing department is involved because in 2012 it approved A New Leaf’s application for a special kind of funding to make the units affordable for people with low incomes. Under legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan, investors get tax credits if they finance low-income housing.
