Facelift for affordable housing in Burnsville

Today, a low-income housing development in Burnsville is a worn-out collection of apartments and townhouses that is home to nearly 500 people. But with the demand for affordable housing continuing to grow, it is poised to get a 21st century update.

Built in 1972, the federally subsidized Chancellor Manor has already gotten improvements to address residents' requests for more maintenance and concerns about safety. Now, a more intensive rehabilitation effort will continue efforts by residents and management to work with the city and police on improving conditions, said Sgt. Jeff Witte, who is in charge of community resources for the Burnsville Police Department.

State and county housing officials have assembled a funding package of $24.2 million to buy and fix up Chancellor Manor, with new windows, roofs, siding, landscaping, security improvements and more.

A state housing agency has announced loans and tax credits worth about $4 million that it hopes will speed the rehabilitation of the 200-unit complex located just south of County Road 42 and east of County Road 5. There is more to be done, but the decision opens the door.

More than ever, such preservation of aging housing complexes is needed: Losses of homes to foreclosures and jobs to a poor economy have helped put nearly 9,000 people on waiting lists to get into affordable housing in Dakota County alone.

"It's extremely good news," said Mark Ulfers, executive director of Dakota County's Community Development Agency (CDA). "It is a large step forward in our work to try and complete the acquisition and improvement of the largest affordable housing development in Dakota County."

For years after it opened in 1972, the manor had been a problem for Burnsville police. By 2000, police were responding to as many as 600 calls for service a month.

But that number fell to 266 last month, Witte said. The calls range from complaints of loud music to medical problems to disturbances. That number of calls, Witte said, is about average for a multi-housing complex of Chancellor Manor's size.

Frustrated tenents

The progress began in earnest about a year ago, after a man cut himself on a fire extinguisher's glass case and spilled lots of blood, and residents began expressing their frustrations. There were community meetings with management, police and the city to address residents' feeling, for example, that maintenance was lacking. But it was learned, Witte said, that many complaints had never even made it to management.

Working with the residents, the majority of whom are Somali immigrants, Witte said, officials opened lines of communication and encouraged people to call management or police when needed. Residents built up a strong sense of community, with neighborhood-watch-type captains in each building and their own newsletter, he said.

To continue to address residents' concerns about safety, part of the rehab work will involve removing garages that block views, Ulfers said. That will improve not only sight lines, but perhaps also the residents' sense of security, he said.

But not everybody worries, and many residents today are satisfied with Chancellor Manor. Take Phyllis Peterson, 81, who likes her building exactly the way it is. She doesn't want it to change, at least not her sliding glass doors, which let in plenty of sunlight for her lush pink geraniums, said Peterson, who works part time at a food shelf.

"I've lived here for 27 years, and it's been a wonderful place," she said. "I've seen no problems. This building has been very peaceful."

Her neighbor, Abouatta Omar, 58, also likes the building the way it is, though he said it would be fine if the project brings a new roof, siding and more. Omar said he's never had a problem with crime.

Money for units statewide

The money for the rehab project is among the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency's awards totaling more than $96 million to an array of projects. They will help provide 3,034 affordable housing units throughout the state.

Chancellor Manor's private owner, a limited partnership called Chancellor Manor LP, has agreed to sell it to a private nonprofit, the Community Housing Development Corporation, which manages nearly 2,900 affordable housing units throughout Minnesota, mostly in the metro area.

The purchase of Chancellor Manor is expected by late this year, with renovations at a cost of $10.2 million expected to be completed in 2010, said Sara Swenson, a CDA spokeswoman.

"This is a very experienced nonprofit provider of affordable housing, and they want to acquire this development, do a bunch of renovations as rehabilitation to the development and then manage it as affordable property out into the future," Ulfers said.

Dakota County's Community Development Agency (CDA) recently pledged to give a loan for up to $2.5 million. And in October, the state agency Minnesota Housing awarded two funding streams. One, a deferred $2.68 million loan through an affordable housing program, went to the would-be owner, the Community Housing Development Corporation.

In addition, the agency will offer $328,260 in housing tax credits, which are a tax incentive for corporations that want to reduce their corporate income taxes. They will be added to $740,522 in tax credits from the CDA. The new owner will seek private corporations who want to invest in Chancellor Manor, and investors will get tax credits in exchange for cash. Investors typically earn from 5 to 7 percent.

"It's a very small rate of return compared to most investments," Ulfers said, "but most corporations that do it are doing it because they have an interest in community lending -- investing in the community."

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017