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Nearly half of Oregon’s approximate 1,500 homeless veterans live in the southern part of the state, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

That’s because one of the state’s largest hospitals for veterans is in Roseburg. Patients receive treatment there, but often have no lodging prospects.

However, construction is now under way on Eagle Landing Homeless Housing, a $12 million complex to serve veterans in the area.

鈥淎 lot of veterans come here for outpatient services and they hang out somewhere 鈥� under the bridges or in the forest 鈥� so they can get to their service,鈥� said Betty Tamm, executive director of , the project’s developer. 鈥淲e hope to help the good portion of homeless veterans here find stable housing and provide services to help them reintegrate into society.鈥�

The VA, which recently established a goal of ending veteran homelessness within five years, issued a request for proposals to build housing on its underused properties. It will contribute $1 million to each project and let developers use the land tax-free for 75 years.

NeighborWorks Umpqua, an affordable housing developer based in Douglas County, submitted the winning bid to develop a facility on the same property as the VA Roseburg medical center. The result surprised Tamm.

鈥淚 sort of thought a monster developer from out of state would swoop in and develop this,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re very grateful to have it.鈥�

The project is receiving financial assistance from various nonprofits and state agencies, including and the . It’s one of the first housing complexes being built under the VA’s new initiative.

To qualify for the VA program, veterans cannot make more than 50 percent of the area median income. No tenants will pay more than 30 percent of their income; a tenant with zero income will not pay rent.

The facility will hold 11 buildings, 10 with housing units. The other will hold a laundry room, a community meeting room and storage. The design calls for building 54 units, 44 with one bedroom and 10 with either two or three bedrooms to accommodate families.

Multi-bedroom apartments are uncommon in veteran housing, according to Anne DeLaney, co-founder of , which designed the project.

鈥淲e really did try to create a sense of community, but a sense of community that allowed people to have privacy as well,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s a nice balance of privacy in individual units, but in the courtyards and in the community space in particular there are opportunities for social interaction.鈥�

The project will have a layout similar to other affordable housing projects designed by the firm. But it will have many more units that cater to disabled persons, DeLaney said.

鈥淪ite design is probably not that different, but the population is different,鈥� she said. 鈥淩eintegration back into civilian life is sometimes a challenge (for veterans), so we wanted to design it to make them as comfortable as possible.鈥�

Also, the VA requires that the building be constructed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

But the main focus is creating a facility to help veterans from a variety of backgrounds, Tamm said.

鈥淭here has always been this image of the homeless vets being from the Vietnam era, but there’s a new wave of people struggling to find jobs and housing coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan 鈥� families, maybe even single mothers,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re going to see some different demographics coming along.鈥�

Construction is expected to finish in December 2013.