Wellington Heights initiative expands to include 55 properties

Four Oaks and its Affordable Housing Network Inc. subsidiary on Monday said they have 55 residential properties under their control as part of the TotalChild Wellington Heights Initiative announced last week.

Jim Ernst, president and CEO of Four Oaks, said AHNI now owns 32 properties in the Wellington Heights neighborhood, including three vacant lots. The number was an increase over the 25 announced Thursday. One of the new properties is the 12-unit Rose Apartments at 1407 Third Ave. SE, Ernst said.

The organization also will take over management of another 23 rental properties owned by Tim Terry of Iowa City, officials said.

Terry, founder of accounting firm Terry Lockridge & Dunn and financial services firm World Trend Financial, lived in Wellington Heights for about 20 years until 1997. During that time, he said, he bought the 23 properties as a landlord in his own effort to prevent the neighborhood's housing stock from deteriorating.

In recent months, Terry has been helping as AHNI quietly purchased properties in an 18-block section of the neighborhood. The idea is to upgrade rental housing and convert some of it to owner-occupied homes, while changing the perception that Wellington Heights can be a less-than-desirable place to live.

Ernst, Terry, AHNI Executive Director Joe Lock and Terry Bilsland, president of the Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association, met with The Gazette Editorial Board on Monday to talk about the initiative and the inclusion of Terry's properties.

As a Wellington Heights landlord, Lock said, AHNI will follow the same practices it uses in more than 500 rental units it already owns or manages throughout the city. Requirements include satisfactory credit checks, background checks and previous rental checks for residents.

Though that process means some current tenants won't qualify and will have to look elsewhere to live, Ernst said, Four Oaks and AHNI concluded that their focus was on improving Wellington Heights. It is the city's job to oversee landlords, tenants and rental properties citywide, he said.

Terry said officials could improve rental properties by simply enforcing Cedar Rapids' existing ordinances. In purchasing and renovating residential properties over the years, he said, it was common to find the rental properties he was buying in “egregious” violation of city code.

Ernst said AHNI is funding the purchases with some money left from its participation in the Block by Block neighborhood revitalization program in flood-hit areas on the city's west side. That money came from both private donations and flood-recovery government aid. Four Oaks and AHNI also will be seeking additional private and public funding support, he said.