KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A new development project is coming to a Westside neighborhood in Kansas City. Crews broke ground Friday morning for a project that will bring affordable housing to the area. The corner of West 29th Street and Bellview Avenue is where Kansas City's most recent affordable housing project, Belleview Townhomes, will be built. It aims to create opportunities for low-income families to become homeowners. The Hispanic Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) is partnering with Kansas City on this project. Funding provided from the city's affordable housing trust fund will be used to build the townhomes. Things to do this weekend in Kansas City Oct. 4-6 According to HEDC, the neighborhood has been in need of a development like this for quite some time. "This is going to be affordable housing," said Joe Mendoza, Chairman at HEDC. "It's the first time there has been an affordable housing development in over two decades in Kansas City in the Westside." Mendoza went on to explain that the nine townhomes for working families, seniors and people whose home repairs cost more than it's worth are designed with both two and three-bedroom options. The project was certainly welcomed by the people FOX4 spoke with on Friday, including Anna Roseburrough, the president of the Sacred Heart Neighborhood Association, and her husband Jerry, who has called the neighborhood home for 71 years. "We need family homes," said Jerry. "Families are what make the community, that's what draws the memories and stuff. It's so important." Anna also expressed her excitement regarding the news, but she also claims there's still work to be done in the KC community. "It's very great, it's a step forward," she said. "I think we need to make more steps quickly. We have other areas that need to be worked on." Other residents shared insight into how the new development could help the Westside neighborhood's other needs, like maintenance and more. McDonald’s adding Chicken Big Mac to US menus for a limited time "It's going to be helpful, but these weeds and everything, the overgrown trees; now it's worth a little something," said Rudy Ramirez. "Now they're paying attention." The neighborhood wants to hold that attention for as long as it can to show its potential for growth, while also keeping the character of the neighborhood intact. Mendoza says the goal, while it may be aggressive, is to be finished with construction by next summer.