Cascade Village Apartments to switch to Section 8 housing following settlement

The dispute over Cascade Village Apartments will end with the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority taking over the complex this spring. 

When it does, AMHA Executive Director Herman Hill said, he intends to turn the 242-unit mixed-income housing community into Section 8 housing. While the intention is not to relocate residents, Hill said he did not know whether market-rate renters who do not qualify for subsidized housing would be able to stay.

“We don’t know exactly what it will look like,” Hill said Wednesday. 

Deborah Taylor, who pays $981 a month for a two-bedroom market-rate apartment, hopes she won’t have to leave before she’s ready. Taylor had applied for housing assistance previously and was rejected. She did so again Wednesday, after learning of the change.

“I just hope they can just let us stay,” she said.

The conversion would be part of a U.S. Housing and Urban Development program called Rental Assistance Demonstration, which lets housing authorities convert public housing — in this case, apartments built specifically for low-income, disabled or elderly residents as part of a HUD program — into Section 8 housing, which allows residents to use vouchers to subsidize rent in approved units. The program will be good for AMHA because the federal government will provide more subsidies for Section 8 units than it does for public housing units, Hill said, increasing the amount of money AMHA will bring in on the apartments.

That in turn will give AMHA more funds to upgrade them.

Hill said AMHA’s entire public housing portfolio of about 4,500 units across Summit County has been approved for conversion, but Cascade Village would be the first to be completed. The organization is still weighing whether to convert other properties.

The conversion process, which would likely take more than a year, does not automatically eliminate or convert market-rate apartments into Section 8 housing, said Amina Hall, fund development senior manager with AMHA. But Hall said the final structure of Cascade Village was yet to be determined based on redevelopment plans and financing.

“We don’t have all the answers right now,” Hall said. 

Still, she said, residents would not be displaced. 

“That’s not what we’re going to do,” Hall said. “That’s not what’s going to happen.”

Lawsuit settlement includes payment to bank

Cascade Village Apartments was the subject of a lawsuit involving AMHA and The Community Builders, the nonprofit that developed, then managed, the apartments. In a suit filed late last month, AMHA accused The Community Builders, known as TCB, of mismanagement, while trying to stop them from walking away from the property.

The parties went to mediation in federal court and came to an agreement last week, both said. As part of the agreement, TCB will continue to manage the property through the end of March — AMHA will take over April 1.

Citizens Bank was also a party to the dispute, Hill said, and was considering foreclosure on the property. He said the bank was owed about $3 million, but agreed through mediation to take $771,000 from TCB and $500,000 from AMHA. AMHA plans to pay $350,000 in the next 30 days and $25,000 annually for the next six years.

The settlement has not been finalized, and the terms were not available publicly.

In a statement, TCB President and CEO Bart Mitchell said he was pleased to have reached an agreement. He said the settlement “represents a significant step toward realizing our objective of ensuring a positive outcome for Cascade Village, one that serves residents, provides long-term sustainability for the community and creates an appropriate transition plan.”

A spokesperson for TCB, Melinda Swan, added in an email that the company was “working diligently” on the final agreement. She declined a request for further comment.

Upgrades could cost $30 million

Residents at Cascade Village have complained about water damage and other maintenance and safety issues. By converting the apartments to Section 8 housing, Hall said in an email, AMHA will have access to financing that will allow for renovations that would otherwise be difficult to pay for. 

Across the country, she said, the conversion program is used to modernize aging affordable housing communities. At Cascade Village, 106 units are public housing, 78 are market-rate units and 58 used Low Income Housing Tax Credits to pay for development.

Costs would not change for residents whose rents are subsidized, though Hill said TCB had failed to raise rents on market-rate apartments and he expected to do so.

He said he expected the upgrades to cost $30 million, but he wouldn’t know for sure until after April 1, when AMHA would be able to inspect apartments and see what condition they were in and what they might need. He expects AMHA to direct between $7 million and $10 million of money the organization has on hand to the rehabilitation work. The agency will also use tax credits, take on debt and apply to federal programs to fill the gap.

The commitment of millions to Cascade Village will likely mean AMHA delays plans to acquire additional properties, Hill said, though expanding AMHA’s footprint is one of its priorities in a recently approved strategic plan.

“We’re just going to have to reprioritize some things,” he said. “Cascade wasn’t on our original radar.”

Residents would have relocation help if they cannot stay

Dawaun Addie, a longtime Cascade Village resident who moved out last year and whose mother is still a tenant, said Wednesday that he thought AMHA would “do 100% better job” than TCB in managing the property.

He has concerns about what might happen to residents in market-rate apartments and whether tenants would suffer if the property was no longer mixed income.

Hall said she expected Cascade Village to have more access to AMHA’s non-housing programs, including early education and workforce development help, since the organization will be on site. 

If residents in market-rate apartments can’t stay in their homes, Hill said, AMHA would help relocate them to other properties. 

Victor Jackson, Taylor’s husband, said if the family isn’t able to stay in their home, he’d like AMHA to help them find a new place, as well as compensate them for having to move.

“Little things like that help out majorly,” he said.

Jackson said without the help, they “might as well have kicked us out and given us an eviction notice.” He and Taylor can’t afford any more than what they’re already paying, he said.

Maintaining control of Cascade Village

Cascade Village is the only AMHA property that the organization was not managing, and Hill said the housing authority wouldn’t let outside entities be responsible parties in the future. 

“AMHA will have complete control of the property from now until forever,” he said. 

He’d like to see the formation of a resident council to help improve communication and said he expects to have regular meetings with residents once the transition is complete. Hill said it was an “easy decision” to take over Cascade Village, despite the legal posturing that tried to keep TCB in place.

“We couldn’t just abandon Cascade Village,” he said. 

Hall added that she’d heard the community concerns and wanted to make sure residents’ needs were met. 

“We had to do the right thing,” she said.  “At the end of the day, I’m very confident to say AMHA’s the right management organization for that community.”