Source: Baltimore Business Journal
http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/04/27story12.html
By Daniel J. Sernovitz Staff
Sharp Leadenhall Apartments Sells for $11M
A New England affordable housing company plans to spend nearly $7 million to renovate the Sharp Leadenhall Apartments near M&T Bank Stadium after buying the property in late March for about $11 million.
Evergreen Partners LLC will launch its year-long renovation April 27, dashing community fears the site would fall into hands of developers or turned into market-rate housing.
Evergreen Partners, a Portland, Maine, real estate firm specializing in affordable housing, plans to spend about $35,000 per unit, or about $6.8 million, to renovate the property and its 192 housing units near Otterbein and Federal Hill.
The project is being financed in part through state and federal tax credits, and the renovation could take about a year to complete, Evergreen Principal Brian M. Poulin said.
That financing includes a $17 million bond loan from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and federal low-income housing tax credits that will raise $5.9 million in equity for the project, state housing department spokeswoman Rosa Cruz said.
Cruz said the state is encouraged by Evergreen’s commitment to preserving the complex, particularly in Baltimore City because of the number of residents in need of affordable housing.
The complex is about 30 years old and is showing its age, Poulin said. The renovation will include new kitchens, bathrooms and other interior work, as well as exterior improvements such as landscaping.
“Just like any old property, it has some significant needs,” he said. The complex is about 90 percent occupied.
Evergreen bought the property from Henrietta-Oxford Associates and Sharp Leadenhall Associates.
Evergreen has completed a number of similar projects in the city, including the Waters Tower complex near Johns Hopkins Hospital and Ruscombe Gardens in Coldspring Newtown.
