FALL START EXPECTED ON CAPE APARTMENTS; STATE SAYS UNITS WILL HELP REPLACE FLOOD, ROAD LOSSES

A Kansas City developer could start building a 48-unit apartment complex next fall on Hackberry Street near Pacific Street.

Cohen-Esrey Housing Partners LLC will start construction on the two- and three-bedroom apartments when the financing is in place, said Tracy Taylor, president of a subsidiary of the largest property management firm in Kansas City -- Cohen-Esrig Real Estate Services Inc. He expects no difficulty completing the financial arrangements.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission has granted Cohen-Esrey $300,000 in federal and state tax credits and more than $1.5 million in subsidized loans to finance the project.

Taylor said his company is selling off the tax credits to help finance the project.

Property owners Ernie Beussink and Earl Norman have signed a contract to sell Cohen-Esrig three acres of land, said Tom Kelsey, the real estate broker with Lorimont Place Ltd. who arranged the deal. Beussink and Norman asked for and won a zoning change to R-4 for apartments from the City Council, according to city records. It had been zoned M-1 for manufacturing.

The land is part of a wheat field sitting across the street from modest white frame single-family houses.

In a written statement, the Missouri Housing Development Commission said Cape Girardeau needs the rental units because the city "has lost approximately 175 housing units in three years due to flooding and recent highway construction."

Taylor said his company chose Cape Girardeau because it has "a great economic development machine." With the expansion of Procter & Gamble, and other jobs coming into the area, workers will need homes.

He said the city government's commitment to upgrade its infrastructure -- the street and sewer capital improvement programs -- bodes well for the city's economic future.

This would be the first Missouri project for Cohen-Esrey Housing Partners LLC to specialize in developing and managing middle-income housing in small Midwest cities, Taylor said.

He said the company has developed similar apartment complexes in the Kansas towns of DeSoto, Manhattan, Fort Hays, Dodge City and Independence.

Manhattan and Fort Hays are college towns. Taylor said that Cohen-Esrey's developments are aimed at working people and their families but are often in college towns because "the college students take all the good apartments and there's a dearth of affordable apartments."

Under the terms of the commission's loans and credits, families may not make more than about $23,000 a year -- 60 percent of Cape Girardeau County's median income -- when they move in.

Taylor said when workers move to town for a new job they often leave their spouses behind for the duration of the school year, or their spouses don't have jobs yet. In that case, only the income from the one moving in or the one having a job will count.

Families may stay in the apartments forever no matter what income they make eventually, Taylor said. Only the income level when residents move in matters.

Documents from the housing commission say the two-bedroom apartments would rent for $385 a month while the three-bedroom units would go for $445. Those prices don't include utilities, Taylor said.

Every apartment will have two bathrooms, he said, with hookups for washers and dryers. There will be on-site managers at the complex 24 hours a day.

Taylor said building this kind of apartment complex does not generate quick profits but pays reasonable profits over the long haul. "We'll get involved in the community," he said.