$6.5M bond issue OK'd for apt. sale

For the second time in as many years, Anderson's city council unanimously authorized the offering of up to $6.5 million in tax exempt bonds Tuesday, Aug. 18, to facilitate the sale and rehabilitation of 108 low-income apartments on Briarwood.

The nine-building complex, known as River Garden Apartments, is currently owned by Jim Westberg of Redding.

Highland Property Development LLC intends to purchase the complex and spend up to $25,000 per unit upgrading each unit with solid surface countertops, solid oak cabinets, energy efficient appliances, Low-E (low emittance) windows and Americans with Disabilities Act compliant entries and bathrooms, said Bill Rice, a principal with the development company that operates nearly 20 other similar low income properties in rural areas throughout California.

"No one will be kicked out of their housing while the work is in progress, and since 89 percent of our residents currently receive federal government assistance, their rent payments calculated as 30 percent of their income will not increase since the federal government pays the difference.

Proceeds of the tax-exempt housing revenue bonds, to be sold by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, will be the sole responsibility of the developer, who has agreed to pay an amount equal to one-eighth of 1 percent of the assessed valuation of the property each year in lieu of property taxes, or about $1,900 per year, for the 55-year repayment period, Acting City Manager Dana Shigley said.

The payment may be made annually or, pending an agreement with the city, as a lump-sum, she added.

Originally constructed in the 1970s with U.S. Department of Agriculture Section 515 funds and other federal sources, recorded covenants limiting occupancy of the units to low- and very low-income residents will expire in 2010 and revert to market rate apartments unless the transaction is completed, Hill explained.

However, because tax-exempt bonds will be used for the proposed purchase and renovation, Hill said his company has agreed to record new covenants restricting the apartment complex's units to rental by low- and very low-income residents for an additional 55 years.

A previous agreement and authorization granted by the Anderson council more than a year ago has expired, resulting in the council's need to reconsider the matter, Hill explained.