TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING
By Steve Wright
With construction costs and land prices soaring, developers of affordable rental housing are constantly pressed to make the numbers work.
In St. Louis, the Friedman Group, Ltd. and Dublin Capital, lobbied policymakers, layered financing and launched an uphill yet successful battle to clean up and preserve a rapidly deteriorating 115-unit affordable rental building.
Eric Friedman, president of the Friedman Group and the St. Louis Association of Realtor’s Commercial Division Realtor of the Year, created a case study on the salvation of the Winton Churchill Apartments.
“An ongoing problem for the property was crime, which amounted to more than 300 police calls each year. In addition to safety problems, the apartments were only about 40 percent to 50 percent occupied and many of the tenants were not paying rent,” Friedman said. “The owner of the 115-unit building had renovated the property in 1995, but was facing increasing pressure from the City of St. Louis, the police department and community leaders to make further changes.”
The question for the owner was how to proceed in solving the problem? At that point, Friedman Group, Ltd. and Dublin Capital were asked to step in and provide expertise and solutions. The two firms and owner decided to search for a buyer/developer who would be able to rehab the building and continue providing affordable housing.
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