Rents Kept Low

By Mary SchoenClark May 11, 2013 Housing

Bond purchase helps retain renters at Cedar Valley Apartments

The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Thurs., July 8, 1999

By George C. Ford
Gazette financial editor

The Cedar Valley Apartments at 3000 J St. SW in Cedar Rapids were purchased by the MidAmerica Housing Partnership with assistance from Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. Fannie Mae's direct purchase of bonds used to finance the purchase allowed MAHP to keep rents low for the complex's residents. The apartment complex is shown in this view looking northeast, with the Interstate 380 north on-ramp from 33rd Avenue SW at lower left.

The Cedar Valley Apartments at 3000 J St. SW in Cedar Rapids were purchased by the MidAmerica Housing Partnership with assistance from Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. Fannie Mae’s direct purchase of bonds used to finance the purchase allowed MAHP to keep rents low for the complex’s residents. The apartment complex is shown in this view looking northeast, with the Interstate 380 north on-ramp from 33rd Avenue SW at lower left.

Late Wednesday afternoon, a young family moved into a vacant apartment at Cedar Valley Apartments, 3000 J St. SW in Cedar Rapids.

That might not have been possible without the help of the Federal National Mortgage Corp. (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and the MidAmerica Housing Partnership (MAHP).

Last year, the owners of the 186-unit apartment complex for low-income residents wanted to sell the complex, but wanted to assure that the tenants would not be displaced by significantly higher rents. MAHP set out to buy the apartment complex and keep the rents low enough to retain its residents.

Fannie Mae, in the first transaction of its kind nationally, agreed to purchase $4.74 million of low-interest bonds issued by the city of Marion to help MAHP finance the purchase.

The city acted as an intermediary, funneling the money to MAHP, which in turn will pay Fannie Mae principal and interest on the bonds.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines issued MAHP a second mortgage for $279,000 to provide additional funds for rehabilitating the complex.

“It allowed MAHP to do the rehabilitation work more quickly and assured that there was enough financing to make repairs when they are needed,” said Joe O’Hern, director of Fannie Mae’s Iowa Partnership Office.

Franklin Raines, chairman of Fannie Mae, said the direct purchase of the low-interest bonds chairman enabled MAHP to cut its transaction costs and keep rents as low as possible.

“The toughest thing in affordable housing is non-asset costs — the legal fees, transaction expenses, surveys and all the things that don’t have anything to do with bricks and mortar,” said Raines. “If you can cut those costs to a minimum, that immediately goes to holding down the rents.

“We were able to do that in this case and we’re hoping to replicate that in many cases around the country.”

Mary Schoen-Clark, president of MAHP, said 184 of the 186 apartments are leased. She said two-thirds of the units are reserved for families earning at or below 80 percent of the area’s median income.

Fannie Mae, through its Houselowa program, has invested $2 billion in low-income housing in Iowa, helping 31,000 families to achieve home ownership. The $3 billion program is committed to helping 40,000 families over a five-year period.

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