DEMAND GREAT FOR NEW CAIRO HOUSING

CAIRO, Ill. -- More than 120 applications have been received for 17 apartments for low-income people that will become available at Little Egypt Apartments early next month.

"We're proud of this new housing development," said Mable Hollis, manager of the $980,000, two-story complex in the 1800 block of Poplar Street in Cairo. "They're beautiful apartments and the demand for them is high."

An open house was held last weekend at the apartment complex, a project of Little Egypt Housing Development Corp.

Federal, state and local officials were among those who toured the facility.

Moving days for successful applicants will be the first week in November, said Hollis.

"Contractors are putting the finishing touches on the apartments," she said. "Some carpet work and installation of appliances remain."

"We'll be through by Nov. 1," said Julius Johnson, a carpenter's steward with H.E. Mitchell Construction Co. of Harrisburg, the contractor.

The development has been under construction just over a year. It consists of four buildings that form a square, with a courtyard and playground between them. The complex has laundry facilities and offices for Little Egypt Corp.

Two of the two-bedroom apartments are equipped for handicapped people and a third can be adapted for handicapped use.

Each unit is equipped with a patio, central heat and air-conditioning, refrigerator and stove.

"The apartments are all electric," said Hollis.

The multifamily rental housing is the first built in Cairo since the early 1940s, when two housing projects -- Elmwood Place and McBride Place (formerly Pyramid Courts) -- were constructed.

Funding for the complex was provided by Farmers Home Administration and Illinois Housing Development Authority HOME Program.

Little Egypt, founded in 1979, provides housing to a number of Cairo's low-income families.

"We have 36 single-family units scattered throughout the city," said Hollis. "And we have 20 units for singles."

The single occupancy units are 20 rooms in the former Manor Motel, which was acquired in 1992 and adjoins the new complex.

Little Egypt hopes to acquire an additional 20 family units soon.