Mixed-income apartment proposal in C.R. gets pushback

CEDAR RAPIDS - For those who attended a Thursday night open house near the proposed site of a multifamily housing complex, which would include five units dedicated to homeless people, the sentiment seemed overwhelming: not in our neighborhood.

More than 50 residents attended the meeting at Holy Redeemer Church to share their opinions on the 17,550 square-foot, three-story Crestwood Ridge Apartments project proposed for 1200 Edgewood Road NW.

Those in the crowd raised concerns over stormwater drainage, more traffic and the size of the 45-unit project.

Carolyn Jarvis, who lives a block south of the Crestwood Ridge site, argued the project doesn't fit the neighborhood.

'I'm not opposed to the project, I just think it should be in a different location,” she said.

Others questioned the demographics of the project's tenants.

Crestwood Ridge would devote five units to permanent housing for homeless families. Four units would be market-rate rents and the remaining 36 would be for people earning 60 percent of the median household income.

Candy Lamadrid, a property manager with Crestwood Ridge's developer CommonBond Communities, said the company carefully vets all prospective tenants. CommonBond, which manages all its properties, does not rent to people with criminal records, she said.

'Just because these residents don't make as much money doesn't mean they're criminals,” she said.

Carolann Jensen, chief programs officer with the Iowa Finance Authority, said Crestwood Ridge represents a new venture for IFA's board of directors, which has committed $8 million - $800,000 annually over 10 years - in federal housing tax credits to the project.

'For Iowa it's our first venture down this path,” Jensen said. 'We do realize these limited number of units aren't going to solve the homeless problem, but we wanted to dip our toe in the water.”

Jensen said IFA could provide similar housing tax credits to other projects in future years.

At some point, the Cedar Rapids City Council will consider a rezoning for the building. The city's planning and zoning commission voted not to recommend approval, so the project needs a supermajority approval of at least six council members. An initial vote could take place as soon as next month.

Justin Eilers, housing manager for CommonBond Communities, said the non-profit, which has been building affordable housing projects in the Midwest for more than 40 years, knows the mixed-tenant model works.

CommonBond has affordable rental units in more than 50 cities in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota and began including units for homeless tenants about a 10 years ago.

'We have over 100 properties and we know how this model works and we believe in it,” he said.

But Eilers admitted projects like this can receive public pushback.

'I think it's pretty common to have questions and pushback before they really understand the project,” he said.

To the south in Iowa City, Shelter House Executive Director Crissy Canganelli has seen firsthand the challenges faced when trying to shelter the homeless.

While different in scope and service, Iowa City's Shelter House received considerable pushback in the years leading up to its 2010 opening. And Canganelli's efforts two years ago to provide low-barrier emergency winter shelters was met with at least initial criticism from nearby business owners.

But Canganelli said most, if not all, of those concerns were unfounded. Instead, providing those in need with housing has a positive impact on the community as a whole, she said.

'Overall, overwhelmingly there is a substantial public benefit of providing the essential service of shelter and decent housing. The community is safer, individuals lives are more stable, lives are in fact saved, policing the community becomes more efficient and effective,” she said. 'But it's really hard to think about that and hold on to that when you have an unknown project with an unknown number of people and new variables moving into your neighborhood next to you. It's hard to metabolize, but the public benefit is so extraordinary.”

Shelter House and the emergency shelters focus entirely on temporary homeless shelter, while Crestwood Ridge would partner with the Willis Dady Emergency Shelter for the five permanent housing units.

Phoebe Trepp, executive director of Willis Dady, said her organization would have a part-time staffer on-site at Crestwood Ridge to provide support services.

'The idea is, it's very difficult for people living in poverty, who don't have a support system, to reach their goals if they're not permanently housed,” Trepp said.