A ground-breaking ceremony was held yesterday at the site where 100 new affordable apartments for seniors will be built.

The badly-needed $12.5 million development, on former woodland at Rockaway, Southampton, is pencilled in for completion next July.

Builders were working on the early stages of the complex in blustery conditions yesterday as Housing Minister, Sen. David Burch joined officials from the Bank of Bermuda and the Bermuda Housing Trust for the event.

The development ? helping plug a gap in Bermuda?s overheated housing market ? became reality after a $2.5 million donation and a favourable loan from the bank.

Philip Butterfield, CEO of Bank of Bermuda, said the best way to tackle the Island?s much publicised housing shortages was through such partnerships.

?This collaboration between these two institutions is a formula for the kind of success that we should be realising on an ongoing basis,? added Mr. Butterfield. ?One hundred housing units for seniors is a major step in the right direction.?

Ronald Simmons, chairman of the trust, said the deal was crucial in addressing the need for affordable housing for seniors. He thanked Government for donating the leased three-acre land, which has stood unused for decades, and said work was progressing well.

The project was on schedule to meet its summer 2007 deadline, he added.

Sen. Burch thanked the bank for its support and said: ?As long as we are building, I?m pleased.? The bank had pledged to do more in the community ? and said that stance should be commended.

Southampton West MP Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton, said he was delighted with the development and hailed the public private link-up as ?just what the doctor called for?.

The project is being completed in phases or pods, with each pod taking three months to complete. The four main pods consist of a total of 96 units with a smaller structure housing four further units ? bringing the total to 100 one-bedroom apartments, handily placed for the fast ferry into Hamilton.

Developers say each pod is self-sufficient and consists of four, three-storey buildings that circle a central staircase and elevator.

Meanwhile, screening of potential residents at the Rockaway complex is ongoing to ensure elderly folk who eventually move in are those who most need the affordable housing and lower rents.

Applications are still being received by the Bermuda Housing Trust office. For more information call 295-8623 extension 205.