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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.

Mary Price, a resident of Geneva Tower who has lived there for 32 years, said she has seen a lot of changes at the apartment building, but they still always makes her nervous.

“I don’t like the unexpected,” Price said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Edgemark staff held a meeting with Geneva Tower residents earlier this week in which they assured them that rent wouldn’t be going up and went over some of the details of the staff changes, according to Price.

These are Edgemark’s first property acquisitions in Iowa, but the company has worked with low-income properties and not-for-profit sellers several times in other states, according to Aaron Metz, managing principal at Edgemark.

At Geneva Tower specifically, Metz told The Gazette the company hopes to improve operating efficiency and hire a service coordinator who could help elderly residents with activities such as buying groceries and getting to appointments.

Cedar Rapids Community Development Director Jennifer Pratt said in a statement the Geneva Tower and Hawthorne Hills developments meet a critical need in the community.

“We look forward to working with the new owners who will continue providing housing for these populations,” Pratt said.

Geneva Tower has had three fires in the past 20 years, records show, the most recent in February. Cedar Rapids District 3 City Council member Dale Todd said the city learned from the fire that managing a community of people with complicated medical and mental health needs requires a lot of supportive services.

“This is a costly proposition for a nonprofit or private developer. I am interested in how the new owner plans to make the numbers work in the future and how the current owners plan to support and make the transition a productive one for the tenants and the community,” Todd said.

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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 the original story here

From the 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 the original story here 

From KWQC:

CLINTON, Iowa (KWQC) – Four Oaks Foster and Adoptive Family Connections hosted a celebration, honoring National Adoption Month in Clinton on Tuesday.

Two children officially found their permanent homes at the Clinton County Courthouse during formal adoption ceremonies, followed by a small reception for their families.

For Jameson Herrmann and his family, getting adopted was a five-year process.

“I’m just glad it’s over. It’s been a long road, a hard road,” Eileen Herrmann, Jameson’s mom said. “We’re just going to have more time now to spend with him instead of talking to DHS and going here and going there for his meetings … All that we that will be gone”

Four Oaks offers adoption and foster services across 69 of Iowa’s 99 counties. Its resources guided both families in Clinton to complete their adoptions.

Recruiter Liz Estilow said it’s important to be able to celebrate the end of an often lengthy and complicated process.

“Some of these families have been dealing with DHS, and visitations and lawyers and stuff for years,” Estilow said. “This just finally is the finale [and] everybody is together. We can celebrate, we can breathe and we can move forward …, and build that strong bond as a family.”

Both adoptions on Tuesday were to grandparents. Estilow said these kinds of adoptions may be smoother for the kids.

“There’s no more wondering … where they’re going to for visits or …, anything they know that this is where their bedrooms are going to be at,” Estilow said. “This is where their homes at, this is going to be where they’re going to school, and then they know … this is their forever homes.”

For baby Aurora Michaelsen, getting to being adopted was a 15-month process. Her parents are excited for her to have a new start.

“I’m hoping she’ll grow up and be something special,” Angela Michaelsen, Aurora’s mom said. “[Hoping she has a] Good career, teaching her all the right things.”

Four Oaks is currently recruiting potential families for their services. Those who are interested in becoming a candidate for fostering or adoption can visit their website. According to officials starting the process takes about an hour online.

Earlier in the month, Four Oaks held a similar event in Scott County celebrating 13 children finalizing their adoption process on Nov. 19.

See the full story here