From The Gazette:

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Affordable House Network, an affiliate of Four Oaks Family and Children Services, sold two low-income apartment properties in Cedar Rapids as part of a strategic plan to focus more resources on family housing, according to Debbie Craig, Four Oaks’ chief advocacy officer.

The sale of Geneva Tower, 310 Fifth Ave. SE, and Hawthorne Hills, 2283 C St. SW, to Edgemark Communities, the affordable housing division of Denver-based Edgemark Development, was finalized Friday.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Both apartment buildings are income-based properties partially funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Edgemark has experience with managing affordable housing properties, according to it website, and has renewed the properties’ Housing Assistance Payments Contracts for the next 20 years, according to a news release from the Affordable Housing Network.

Craig said that because Geneva Tower is specifically designed for low-income seniors and adults with disabilities, and Hawthorne Hills is mostly single bedroom apartments occupied by single adults, the housing network leadership believed its resources could be better used in ways that more closely fulfill the network’s values.

“We just evaluated the current portfolio of all of our properties, and we wanted to ensure that it fit our mission and vision and values,” Craig said.

The housing network’s “mission statement is to provide decent, safe and sustainable housing that promotes stability for families. Because (the housing network) is an affiliate with Four Oaks, and our mission is to ensure children become successful adults, we really feel like all of our services … are focused and rooted on the family,” she said.

Craig said final decisions haven’t been made regarding new projects in which the housing network could invest to better support families, such as single-family homes or apartment properties with limited units and more space in each unit.

All the housing network staff at Geneva Tower and Hawthorne Hills have stayed with the network, Craig said, and will be working at the network’s other properties.

See the original story here.

From The Gazette:

CEDAR RAPIDS — Two Cedar Rapids multi-unit buildings, Geneva Tower and Hawthorne Hills, have been sold to a Denver-based development company, the Affordable Housing Network said Tuesday.

Geneva Tower, whose apartments at 310 Fifth Ave. SE are rented to mostly low-income seniors and adults with disabilities, and Hawthorne Hills, an income-based housing facility at 2283 C St. SW, were sold to Edgemark Communities, the affordable housing division of Edgemark Development, the network said in a news release.

Financial terms of the sale, finalized Dec. 2, were not released.

“Edgemark Communities has extensive experience acquiring, improving and managing affordable housing properties throughout the Midwest, Southwest and Rocky Mountain region,” the release said.

“AHNI has been evaluating our current portfolio of properties to ensure each one is aligned with our mission — to provide safe and sustainable housing that promotes stability for families and individuals, while also creating community,” Mary Beth O’Neill, president and CEO of Four Oaks Family and Children’s Services and AHNI, its 501(c)3 affiliate, said in the release.

“AHNI vetted a number of potential buyers and chose Edgemark based on the depth and breadth of experience. We are confident that there will not be any gaps in services for the tenants,” O’Neill said.

Edgemark Development, founded 22 years ago, counts shopping centers, self-storage facilities, senior housing, retail and medical office buildings among its properties. Edgemark Communities is its affordable housing division.

Edgemark renewed the property’s Housing Assistance Payments contract for 20 years, the release said.

Four Oaks and AHNI’s human resources department has worked to retain all staff during this transition,“ according to the release.

See original article here.

From Corridor Business Journal:

Affordable Housing Network, Inc. (AHNI) has announced the sale of two of its Cedar Rapids multi-unit properties, Hawthorne Hills and Geneva Tower, to Edgemark Communities, the affordable housing division of Edgemark Development LLC, based in Denver.

The sale was finalized Dec. 2. The purchase price and other terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Edgemark Communities has extensive experience acquiring, improving, and managing affordable housing properties throughout the Midwest, Southwest, and Rocky Mountain regions, according to an ANHI news release.

Both Hawthorne Hills, at 2283 C St. SW, and Geneva Tower, 310 Fifth Ave. SE, receive subsidies from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Edgemark has renewed the Housing Assistance Payments Contract for both properties for 20 years.

Mary Beth O’Neill, president and CEO of Four Oaks Family and Children’s Services and AHNI, said the sales followed extensive organizational strategic planning.

“AHNI has been evaluating our current portfolio of properties to ensure each one is aligned with our mission: to provide safe and sustainable housing that promotes stability for families and individuals, while also creating community,” Ms. O’Neill said.

AHNI is an affiliate of Four Oaks, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to assure children become successful adults. Services are focused on and rooted in the family, and Four Oaks’ philosophy is to positively impact communities by empowering children and families to achieve stability and self-sufficiency.

“This focus means AHNI and Four Oaks are prioritizing affordable housing opportunities that best serve children, families and community development – single-family homes, multi-family properties with a limited number of units, and a reduction in housing density overall,” Ms. O’Neill added. “AHNI has successfully been achieving that objective in Wellington Heights since 2012.”

Geneva Tower, built in 1971, is an income-based, 12-story property offering 183 efficiency and one-bedroom apartments to seniors age 62 and older and adults with disabilities. Hawthorne Hills, also income-based, was built in 1969 and has a total of 204 efficiency, one-, two- and three-bedroom units in several two-story buildings. The complex was extensively remodeled in 2010 and 2011.

“AHNI vetted a number of potential buyers and chose Edgemark based on the depth and breadth of experience,” Ms. O’Neill added. “We are confident that there will not be any gaps in services for the tenants.”

The Four Oaks/AHNI human resources department has worked to retain all staff during this transition.

ANHI retains a number of other multi-unit properties in Cedar Rapids, including the Cedar Valley Townhomes at 3000 J St. SW, William B. Quarton Place at 85 Harbet Ave. SW and Agin Court Apartments at Agin Court NE.

See original article here.

The Affordable Housing Network, Inc. (AHNI) is working to restore and sustain the quality, character and livability of the historic Wellington Heights neighborhood in Cedar Rapids. To date, AHNI has acquired and rehabilitated over 110 of the most in-need properties in an 18 block area.

Through the Making Life Great project, Great Western Bank is helping to continue this work by investing in the neighborhood’s success, as measured by:

• Increasing homeownership in Wellington Heights to at least 65%
• Reducing crime to a level equal to or less than other Cedar Rapids neighborhoods
• Reducing population density and increase neighborhood pride

Thank you Great Western Bank for investing in our community’s success.