< p>TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved a $2 million loan guarantee for the city of Taunton to demolish 150 homes at the Fairfax Gardens housing complex and replace them with 160 new mixed-income units.

The loan guarantee will enable the Taunton Housing Authority acquire property and assist with the demolition, clearance and preparation of the site for the Fairfax Gardens HOPE VI project.

The city's application to the Department of Housing and Urban Development indicates that low- and moderate-income families will occupy at least 51 percent of the new homes.

The redevelopment project will be carried out simultaneously in two phases.

The project will also create a program to provide 30 soft second mortgages to help first-time homebuyers earning less than 80 percent of the area's median income buy existing homes.