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Employers can also participate in activities that address the need for single-family housing. One resource employers can provide is to create a payroll saving match program to encourage homeownership. Employers can match contributions that employees make to a saving plan that will be used for downpayment and closing costs. Projects that include employer participation can not only access different funding sources, but they also often receive a higher priority when seeking additional financing options to develop a project. While the community does have a need to develop a low-income rental project where rents are based on 30% of income, there is limited funding to develop these projects. Therefore these units were not included in the recommendation section as in reality the Rural Development 515 program has a very limited amount of funding to construct any new units. Multi-family housing within the community will potentially be enhanced through the work of the Downtown Redevelopment Plan. As part of this planning process a variety of housing options are being considered including for-sale townhomes, market rate rental units, and senior rental units. These efforts would not only provide additional housing opportunities for the community but would also assist in downtown revitalization. Senior multi-family housing is also a need within the community. Senior housing is vital to creating life-cycle housing that allows a transition for seniors into lower maintenance housing and that also opens up more "starter homes" for new families. Single Family Housing The City of Elk River has a substantial need for the addition of new single-family homes. Through 2005 it is estimated that a total of 700 to 900 new units of single family housing are needed with the greatest demand for homes prices over $150,000. Much of the new construction within the comartunity is meeting this price range. It will be more difficult to meet the demand for units Priced under $150,000 where 200 to 300 new units are needed through 2005. Dernand for this housing could be met through a variety of options. The first would be to incorporate various housing styles into new developments. A subdivision could include a mixture of housing types that would potentially add townhomes or more modest single-family homes to reduce the cost of the housing through increased density and reduced housing costs. More modest single-family homes can be developed utilizing similar design styles, but offer less finished living space with room for expansion. Twinhomes and townhomes are an option to provide more units and to reduce the costs of the housing. Another option would be to target programs that can provide financial and technical resources to create a subdivision that offers more affordable starter homes. Many communities have worked through the Building Better Neighborhoods Program of the Greater Mi~mesota Housing Fund to create appealing subdivisions that offer new single-family homes and multi-family housing. In addition to the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund resources can also be leveraged from the Small Cities Development Program and other resources.