PORT ORCHARD — Fourteen months after construction began, the 38-unit Olympic View Apartment Homes at 3410 and 3420 Orlando St. in Port Orchard opened Friday, Oct. 5 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The new apartment complex is the initial project resulting from the City of Port Orchard’s special property-tax exemption zone in which developers have been offered a 12-year break from property taxes if they sell or rent at least 20 percent of their units to low- or moderate-income families.

The completion of the first phase of work includes 38 affordable apartment units with views of the Olympic Mountains and 28 garages available for additional cost to renters. According to its rental listings online, Olympic View Apartment Homes has one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The single-bedroom apartments have one bathroom. The other units include two bathrooms. Square footages range from 557 to 1,243 square feet. Rents are listed from $1,150 to $1,695 a month.

Phase 2 construction will begin sometime in 2019, according to builder Ovah, LLC. Those units will include 720-square-foot, one-bedroom apartments; 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom units and 1,335-square-foot, three-bedroom units.

The tax exemption, which applies to the value of new or rehabbed units, is applicable only in the city’s designated “challenged” areas. Taxes still must be paid for the land parcels on which the units are constructed.

According to the city, the goal of the property-tax exemption is two-fold: revitalize underdeveloped or downtrodden areas in the city and encourage the development of affordable housing.

The construction company advertises the units as luxury apartments with “a great and easy commute to the ferries and local amenities,” the company said in a news release.