Carlson Gardner Inc. rehabs four downtown buildings

Springfield mayor's company takes on historic remodel

by Jill Henry

SBJ Reporter

jhenry@sbj.net

Four distressed apartment buildings downtown are being gutted and brought back to life as low- to moderate-income housing in a $5 million rehabilitation project. A total of 32 apartments, primarily one-bedroom units, are scheduled to open their doors to new residents in mid-summer 2005.

The buildings 700, 708, 716 and 720 E. Walnut St. were purchased in January 2004 by Carlson Gardner Inc. and renamed Walnut Street Apartments. Co-owners Tom Carlson, Springfield mayor, and Mark Gardner declined to disclose the purchase price.

The four buildings, which Gardner said were "neat buildings that were deteriorating," are on the National Historic Register.

Preserving history is a priority for Carlson Gardner.

"If we can find a property for the right price, I just enjoy saving them," said Carlson, who has been involved in historic restoration for about 10 years. "I feel like if you're able to rescue one of these distressed old buildings and put another 50 years of life on it, at that point no one would even consider demolishing them. It's kind of a save-one-starfish-at-a-time approach."

Target tenants

Tammi Creason, Carlson Gardner's project manager, said that the apartments would be participating in a low-income housing tax credit program, targeting low- to moderate-income families. The program is administered through the Missouri Housing Development Commission

"It's through the award of tax credits and sale of those tax credits that we are afforded the equity in order to complete the rehabilitation," she said. "And in return for that, we commit to offering decent, safe, quality, affordable housing; we commit to ensuring it stays affordable and renting it at below market rent rate for an area."

Income guidelines for tenants require that a single person's maximum annual income not exceed $21,600, Creason said.

A one-bedroom unit will rent for approximately $325 a month, which Gardner said is about the same amount the buildings' most recent tenants paid. "There were people living in those buildings before we bought them and living in substandard conditions," he said.

The apartments will have dishwashers, garbage disposals, microwaves, refrigerators and they'll be hard-wired for Internet access.

The contractor for the project is DCI Construction in Springfield. The architect is Stark Wilson Duncan Architects in Kansas City.

Apartment management

Carlson Gardner often develops projects to be sold to investors, and then Carlson Gardner manages them. Walnut Street Apartments, Carlson said, is a different story.

"We'll have a long-term agreement where we'll be managing (Walnut Street Apartments) for the next 15 years or so," Carlson said.

Recent projects developed by Carlson Gardner include the renovation of Franciscan Villa, in which Carlson Gardner acted as developer for The Kitchen, and Frisco Station Apartments in Joplin. The Frisco Station project earned Carlson Gardner one of three Governor's Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing, which also recognized developments in Kansas City and Hillsdale (St. Louis) in September.

Progress

Determining whether a building is structurally sound can be difficult.

"On any of these historic projects the greatest challenge is assessing the structural integrity of the building, determining whether there's going to have to be any substantial structural repair," Gardner said.

Even with the challenges, Gardner said that he and Carslon seek out buildings with history. "That's what we go around the state looking for. They have to have historic significance," he said.