Johnson County buys $1.7M property for affordable housing

IOWA CITY --- The Johnson County Board of Supervisors has purchased a 15-unit apartment complex in Iowa City for $1.7 million in its efforts to create affordable housing, marking the first time the county has directly owned housing stock.

The county bought the site, at 1102 Hollywood Blvd. in Iowa City, from West Liberty Foods, which was using the property to house workers until the company scaled back its operations in the area.

While long-term plans for the property will be decided in the coming months by the supervisors with guidance from county staff, a few options have been discussed.

County Social Services Director Lynette Jacoby said the options could include finding a nonprofit property manager or issuing a request for proposal with affordability requirements in place. The request for proposal option could look similar to what the city of Cedar Rapids did with its purchase of a building in Wellington Heights, where it renovated apartments and turned ownership over to the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program to manage and set affordability requirements.

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In 2023, the Johnson County assessors office valued the Iowa City property at about $1.3 million. Real estate listings say the apartments, which span three buildings, had been renovated to include quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Supervisor Jon Green said the county already had allocated about $1.5 million for affordable housing stock, and “the stars aligned” when the renovated property became available. The purchase was paid for through the county’s general fund.

While job losses caused the apartments to go on the market, “it also meant they no longer needed that property they had invested in,” Green said of West Liberty Foods.

While the future of the property still is up in the air, Green said he hopes the units would be available to people making less than 30 percent of county median income. Additionally, the tenants would pay no more than 30 percent of their income in rent.

Green said his goal would be to have residents move in by the end of this year. But since it’s the first time the county has done this, there are logistics to be figured out.

Part of that includes potential energy efficiency upgrades for the property. Josh Busard, a director in the county’s Planning, Development and Sustainability Department, said the county will work with MidAmerican Energy and look to see if there are funding opportunities through the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The county has only recently acquired the buildings and has just begun the initial stages of figuring out energy efficiency upgrades that will have a good return on investment and be a comfortable home for future occupants,” Busard wrote in an email.

Some of these energy efficiency upgrades may include replacing the water heaters with an electric or hybrid electric mode, as well as using solar energy for the property. In the meantime, some minor plumbing and electrical work is being done on the property.

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The 57-year-old buildings are designed so that each two-story unit has a living room, kitchen and dining area on the ground level and bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. The townhomes also come partially furnished.

“I believe that housing is a human right and that affordable housing should also be dignified housing. One of the reasons that I'm so thrilled with this particular property is that they're nice units. The only complaint I really have … is that none of them are accessible” for people with disabilities, said Green.

Green said there isn’t a way to put an elevator in the property.

“So that sucks, but it's also a reminder that we have a responsibility to continue acquiring property, including accessible properties, so that we could serve all of our residents,” Green said.

Johnson County affordability struggles

Jacoby said that this direct ownership of housing stock by counties is somewhat uncommon for Iowa but it’s been done in other states.

“Johnson County specifically has not been in the market for acquiring affordable housing units. So this is new for us, but it came about because it is one of our greatest needs. Within our community, we have just such a huge shortfall,” Jacoby said.

Johnson County is one of the fastest growing counties in Iowa, with the population increasing over 38 percent since 2000. But the housing supply has not kept up with the population growth.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition in a 2023 report identified a shortfall of 8,205 housing units for Johnson County residents making 30 percent or less of the area median income. That means only 18 affordable units are available for every 100 renters. The report identifies affordable housing costs and being 30 percent or less of household income.

In addition the new property, the county also has invested in other affordable housing efforts. The county invested $4.3 million in housing-related efforts last fiscal year.

“The long and the short of it is the county government has the ability, and I believe the obligation, to do anything and everything that we can to improve the health, welfare, safety and happiness of county residents,” Green said.