The YMCA of Greater Des Moines will close its acquisition of the former Polk County interim jail next week, the nonprofit’s organization’s president said Wednesday.

“I’d say we are 95 percent done,” Vernon Delpesce said about finalizing the purchase of the property at 2 S.W. Ninth St. downtown.

The Y, operating as the general partner of Central Iowa Supportive Housing LLLP, plans to demolish the site’s existing building to make way for its new 140-bed men’s supportive housing facility.

Central Iowa Supportive Housing is an investment group comprising the Y and five limited partners; four in Greater Des Moines and one in Omaha.

The Y will manage the day-to-day operations of the facility as well as its supportive housing program.

It will pay Polk County the $800,000 asking price for the property, which Delpesce said was appraised at $815,000. That transaction will coincide with the sale of low-income housing tax credits, which are being purchased by the five limited partners.

Delpesce said the Y’s current men’s transitional housing facility at 101 Locust St is no longer conducive to serving the needs of its residents. He’s worked for seven years to find a new home for the organization’s residents, whose numbers average between 150 and 180.

He said the new building, which will feature a three-story residential tower with efficiency apartments – each with a kitchen and a bathroom in lieu of dormitory-style living – will be more supportive of permanent housing.

“It’s not 100 percent subsidized,” Delpesce said, noting that rents will determined using a sliding-fee scale based on income level. He said about 50 percent of Y’s residents are employed.

On May 24, the Des Moines City Council passed a resolution to support Central Iowa Supportive Housing’s application for a $226,900 investment tax credit and a $115,000 sales tax refund through the State of Iowa Enterprise Zone program. The project also received a $50,000 grant this spring from the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.

The estimated $13.7 million project is expected to begin this summer and be completed within a year.

Delpesce said nearly $1 million in private contributions are supporting the project and that fund-raising efforts will continue for 12 months.