Liberty Apartments complex in south Cape nearly ready for occupancy

A 40-unit low-income housing complex in south Cape Girardeau is nearing completion and will be ready for occupancy by early next month.

“We have passed all the inspections and we expect to get our certificate of occupancy before the week is out,” said Melissa Stickel, executive director of Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri.

Liberty Apartments, in the 1100 block of Walnut Street east of West End Boulevard, is owned by Community Partnership and has been jointly developed along with RCH Development and the Cape Area Community Housing Development Corporation.

“We are extremely proud, as an agency, to be part of bringing this project to the community,” Stickel said. “It’s like our baby.”

As of this week, Community Partnership has received between 50 and 60 applications from potential tenants and applications continue to be accepted through the organization’s website, cpsemo.org. Stickel said applications are being reviewed and a waiting list has been created for those who are not among the initial tenants.

The interior of a Liberty Apartments building is seen Wednesday in the 1100 block of Walnut Street in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand

The eight-building apartment complex includes a half-dozen six-unit buildings and one four-apartment structure, plus a single-story community center. The complex is valued at just over $4.5 million, according to building permits on file with the City of Cape Girardeau.

Each 865-square-foot apartment includes living, dining and kitchen areas, two bedrooms, a bathroom and laundry facilities and will rent for $475 a month plus a one-month security deposit.

The project has been funded, in part, through Missouri’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, which sets income ceilings for those who live in the apartments. Ten of the 40 two-bedroom apartments are reserved for clients of Community Counseling Center. More information about Liberty Apartments’ income restrictions may be found on Community Partnership’s website.

“We will have a property manager on site and the Community Counseling Center will also have someone on site to provide supportive services for their clients there,” Stickel said.

Liberty Apartments, she said, is the first of what Community Partnership hopes will be several projects designed to improve the quality of life for residents of south Cape Girardeau.

“We do believe this is just the first of more projects to come,” Stickel said. “We definitely have goals of doing additional developments locally with a focus on Cape Girardeau and south Cape specifically.”

Although it has had little impact on Liberty Apartment’s construction schedule, Stickel said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected tours of the complex and will likely delay any opening celebration.

“It has made us rethink how we’re meeting people and touring them through the apartments and, of course, we can’t have a ribbon cutting anytime soon,” she said. “But we will, eventually, be able to celebrate.”

Affordable housing, Stickel said, is one of the keys to neighborhood revitalization.

“Housing stability is part of economic stability, which is part of neighborhood stability,” she said. “This is really the seed, or the impetus, of greater things to come.”

For more details about Liberty Apartments, visit www.cpsemo.org/libertyapartments.

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