After exceeding goal, Cedar Rapids Affordable Housing Network initiative winding down

CEDAR RAPIDS — While some see a black eye, Katie Bolsinger, 49, saw opportunity when moving to Wellington Heights, one of the oldest core neighborhoods of Cedar Rapids.

Deteriorating properties and gun violence, including a deadly shooting last month, have stigmatized the neighborhood. But perception is not the reality, Bolsinger said. She feels safe and sees a neighborhood on the upswing.

'When I first moved there, every other month there were new neighbors across the street,' said Bolsinger, who moved into her home on Sixth Avenue SE in 2014 and purchased it last spring to share with her 17-year-old son.

'Everything was apartment, 'duplexy' kinds of houses. It used to be get whoever to move in,' she said. 'Now, it seems to be taking longer to get people in, and people are staying longer.'

Bolsinger bought her home, which had been in a sad state but now has new floors and updated plumbing and electrical, through an Affordable Housing Network initiative to transform Wellington Heights by buying, fixing and selling homes and rentals at an affordable price to reverse the blight, poverty and crime that was plaguing the area.

The five-year initiative is winding down, and officials are calling it a success, pointing to declining crime statistics and cleaned-up properties in Wellington Heights.

'The neighborhood looks better,' said Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz. 'We've seen new interest from developers. There's been a rebirth.'

Since 2012, the network has acquired 111 properties in an 18-block area with 602 addresses, exceeding a goal of 100 properties.

Seventy three homes have been rehabilitated, many of them with new floors, energy efficient appliances, plumbing and electrical systems and cleaned-up exteriors. Of those homes, 19 have been resold as single-family homes, 28 rented and managed by the housing network and 17 in the Homeownership Incubator Program, which helps people with bad credit or major debt buy homes by escrowing a portion of their rent for a down payment.

'It gave me the opportunity to make sure I liked the house, make sure I liked the neighborhood, and get it all sorted out before I purchased,' said Bolsinger, who bought her home through the incubator program.

The Affordable Housing Network took the lead from police and neighbors in identifying the most problematic properties.

Aside from homes, six multiunit apartment complexes have been fully updated, nine vacant lots have been combined with adjoining lots and five single-family homes have been built — represented the first new construction in the area in decades. Exteriors were rehabilitated at another 20 properties. Two lots were turned into a community garden, but the future of some properties remains undecided.

In total, 168 living units were reduced to 124 living units after development, according to the organization. The portion of owner-occupied homes has increased to 72 percent, compared with 42 percent when the program began, according to city and organization data.

A few goals were at play: reduce population density by restoring single-family homes that had been chopped into apartments; rehabilitate dilapidated homes and increase ownership.

The theory was that less density would translate into fewer altercations and less crime. More homeownership and better tenants would improve neighborhood stability. And better appearances would help restore pride and improve perceptions.

'Five years later and I'm really proud we've made great strides in all of these areas,' said Anne Gruenewald, president and chief executive of Four Oaks, which founded the housing network in 2007.

The initiative also has been a pillar in Total Child, a Four Oaks effort to help children successfully reach adulthood through a variety of approaches, including having stable housing.

Crime data bolsters the argument Wellington has become safer.

Crime is down 19 percent when comparing a three-year average of 1,099 offenses from 2014-16 to 1,360 on average from 2009-11. Based on the same periods, assaults are down 32 percent from 214 to 146, vandalism is down 36 percent from 115 to 74, drug arrests are down 30 percent from 147 to 103, and disorderly conduct arrests are down 42 percent from 160 to 93.

'The stats year-to-year show the direction of the neighborhood and it is looking good,' said Cory McGarvey, a police district lieutenant. 'Wellington Heights is not perfect, but it seems to be getting better.'

Other programs also have helped, including SAFE CR, a system for holding nuisance properties accountable based on police calls for service; and the Police Community Action Team, a five-person patrol tasked with tackling crime trends and quality of life issues in the city, he said.

Justin Wasson, vice president of the Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association who is running for the City Council, said one of the underlying struggles was the amount of homes chopped in to three or four apartments with only two parking spaces.

'When you don't use a property for its best use — and a lot were built for a single family — it becomes undesirable, and then it's hard to attract quality tenants,' he said.

The appearance of the neighborhood has improved, it's cleaner and safer, he said.

Ron Muller, who lives in an Affordable Housing Network duplex on Fourth Avenue SE, said a few bad landlords own several properties and have low standards for who they'll accept as tenants and don't maintain their properties. The biggest difference the network has made is bringing in more 'positive' residents and buying up some of the worst properties.

Alyssa Hulme, 25, who lives in one of the newly built homes with her husband and three young children, said she hasn't been in Wellington Heights long enough to know if it's improved. She said there are 'interesting' times, referring to crime, but added there's a strengthening bond between neighbors where they look out for each other.

Others consider the impact a mixed bag.

Robin Kash, president of the neighborhood association, said Affordable Housing Network homes drove down asking prices of comparable homes for sale. Who would pay $75,000 to a private seller when he or she could pay the same amount for a housing network home where everything was rehabilitated? he asked.

And some of the sales were sweetened with forgivable loans if the occupant remained in the home for five years. Do those people stay in Wellington Heights or take the free equity and move elsewhere? he asked.

Gruenewald acknowledged the concerns, but said as perception of the neighborhood changes some issues will subside.

The Affordable Housing Network stepped up in Wellington Heights because no one was investing, said Liz Mathis, a spokeswoman for Four Oaks who also is a state representative. House flippers, for example, weren't interested in investing money they wouldn't recoup.

'If you can get someone a permanent home that's affordable, it changes everything,' Mathis said.

The housing network has acquired properties — often quietly so as to not drive up the price — paid for the rehab and sold or rented them almost always for less than the investment, she said. A $3 million fund built through donations has sustained the program, along with rent and home sales, over the past five years, she said.

In selling, the price has been negotiated such that the occupants don't spend more than one-third of their income on a mortgage or rent, Mathis said. The organization struck a delicate balance pricing houses equitably to surrounding homes to not drive up taxes in the area, she said.

Some of the network homes have seen values increase while others have declined, according to Cedar Rapids Assessor data. Also, most of the properties owned by the Affordable Housing Network are exempt from paying taxes. That helps explain a 13 percent decline — from $39.6 million in 2012 to $34.3 million in 2017 — in aggregate residential property taxable value in Wellington Heights.

In 2012, 13 properties worth $831,005 were exempt. Now, 62 properties — mostly owned by the Affordable Housing Network — worth $2.9 million are exempt from paying property taxes.

Gruenewald said while the acquisitions are winding down, the organization will remain committed to the neighborhood through variety of programs, such as a neighborhood entrepreneurial program.

'There still is work to do,' Gruenewald said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com