HOLDREGE, Neb. (AP) — Eighteen new townhomes are set to be constructed this year on the former Washington Elementary School property in Holdrege.

The development comes thanks to an agreement signed this week between Phelps County Development Corp. and Flat River Enterprises. The development corporation had purchased the school property from the city of Holdrege in February. Flat River plans a $2.25 million residential development as the first step of a three-phase project on the property.

The units will be built as single-story multiplexes. Each two-bedroom, two-bath unit will be about 1,100 square feet.

The townhomes are expected to fill a need for housing for professionals such as teachers, nurses and other hospital staffers.