Cathie Dodd said many Americans have not saved enough to live off of in their later years; a fact that drives her and her company when developing new housing projects.

Dodd, executive director of Woodbine Community Organization, said her group is now in the designing stages of a 56-unit condo-type development that will be built in Selma and meet the housing needs for low-income seniors in the area.

“I am very excited about this project in Selma. It is really one that I feel called to do,” Dodd said Friday. “We visited the property and instantly knew this was the place for this project.”

The development, which will be named Hallmark in Selma, is an $8 million project and will hopefully be under construction starting in March.

“This type of project takes about a year to build, so we are hoping to see residents moving in around March 2013,” Dodd said.

The project received another boost recently when the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta announced it had awarded the group a $1 million grant for the Selma project. The grant was awarded through the bank’s Affordable Housing Program.

“I applaud the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta for awarding the Woodbine Community Organization $1 million to develop housing for low-income seniors in Selma,” U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) said Friday. “It is critically important that seniors in the Black Belt have access to clean, safe and affordable housing, and this new development will be a vital component to ensuring that.”

Woodbine is a nonprofit organization that specializes in housing solutions, financial counseling and community revitalization. Based in Tennessee, Dodd said her group has two projects currently under construction; one in Mobile and the other in Gadsden.

She described the housing units as 1,200 square foot condos with nice floor plans.

Dodd said her group is finalizing many of the final details for the project.

The project will be built on land along Lincoln Drive in Selma.