Cedarwood Terraces rising on north side

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New townhouses could be a Christmas present to 48 Springfield families this year. |ret||ret||tab|

A new rental community being developed in north Springfield, near Pickwick Avenue and Kearney Street, is scheduled for completion in December. |ret||ret||tab|

Zimmerman Properties LLC is constructing a nearly $4 million, 48-unit townhouse community called Cedar-wood Terraces. The development offers 32 two-bedroom units and 16 three-bedroom units. |ret||ret||tab|

The father-and-son team that make up Zimmerman Properties, Vaughn and Justin Zimmerman, also own Wilhoit Properties Inc., which was established by Vaughn Zimmerman's brother Mike Wilhoit in 1967. |ret||ret||tab|

Zimmerman Properties is developing the community and Wilhoit Properties is managing it.|ret||ret||tab|

The two-bedroom townhouses, at 982 square feet, will rent for $367 per month, while the three-bedroom, 1,118-square-foot units will go for $460 monthly, Justin Zimmerman said.|ret||ret||tab|

The Zimmermans said the lower-than-average rates were made possible through special financing from the Missouri Housing Development Com-mission. |ret||ret||tab|

According to Vaughn Zimmer-man, the tax credit program, provided by Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Service Tax Code, enables him "to produce more affordable housing within a community. With this special financing we're capable of reducing the rents dramatically."|ret||ret||tab|

He added that while it's very beneficial to the consumer, it is difficult for developers to obtain. |ret||ret||tab|

"We were lucky enough that Springfield ... and our property, our community was selected to be approved," Zimmerman said. "It's hard to get."|ret||ret||tab|

After an application is made, he said, there's an allocation process which considers competing developers throughout the state. The decision is made based on the need of the community. He said that for every six applicants, one approval is granted.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's very, very competitive," Zimmer-man said. "They rank (the communities) based on truly what they are going to produce."|ret||ret||tab|

Once the approval is granted, the developers must do more than develop property. |ret||ret||tab|

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Developer duties|ret||ret||tab|

The special financing program requires that developers offer money-management and home-buying seminars to community residents.|ret||ret||tab|

Justin Zimmerman said they have teamed with the Springfield Public Housing Authority and Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Springfield for the seminars to be offered at Cedarwood Terraces. |ret||ret||tab|

He added that the development's 1,000-square-foot clubhouse which will be located at 2244 North Cedarwood Lane and will have a leasing office, a great room, a kitchenette and bathrooms will be the site for the seminars. |ret||ret||tab|

"Part of the purpose of this financing is ... to help these people become more capable of purchasing a home within a quicker period of time," Vaughn Zimmerman said the of assistance. "By going into a seminar that we're putting on with professionals and saying here's how you would be able to buy a home and here's the things to do to prepare yourself to buy a home' ... maybe this could be some of these people's last stop of renting." |ret||ret||tab|

Other seminar topics include budget and credit counseling, the housing loan process and the availability of area child-care services. |ret||ret||tab|

While other rental property developers might question these services, Zimmer-man said he agrees 100 percent with them and what they can accomplish.|ret||ret||tab|

"A lot of people aren't targeting this special financing," he said. "It is something that we did starting 10 or 11 years ago, looking at this particular financing as a mechanism to continue the development business ... and to continue to provide affordable housing."|ret||ret||tab|

Zimmerman said the program was developed in 1986 as part of the Tax Reform Act. |ret||ret||tab|

He has utilized it in similar developments in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's a program that does take more work: more management, more oversight," he said. "If you just went out and borrowed money from a local bank, naturally you don't have all of these strings attached to it. It is more management- intensive, but it's a very successful apartment community when it's built because you've got residents that are very happy, a brand new product line with very reasonable rents, and yet you're also helping them become more financially self-sufficient while they're in your apartment community.|ret||ret||tab|

"When you look at it in the full picture helping them become more self-sufficient, helping them be capable of managing their funds and knowing what limitations are there, helping them begin to put themselves in a position for future homeownership all those things are really something that's good for the resident as well as us," Zimmerman said.|ret||ret||tab|

And he doesn't fear the possibility of a diluted rental market.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's going to put them out in the marketplace to buy a home sooner and it's going to help another group," Zimmerman said. |ret||ret||tab|

"If this cycle works the way it's supposed to work, it keeps continually turning over and you're helping more and more people."|ret||ret||tab|

The people Cedarwood Terraces will help are those with annual incomes in the $20,000 to $34,000 range another regulation of the program, he said. |ret||ret||tab|

Other amenities of the complex include a playground and a barbecue area with picnic seating.|ret||ret||tab|

Dan Scott, of the Design Agency, is the project's architect and St. Louis-based Ameriwest Inc. is general contractor. [[In-content Ad]]