National affordable housing preservation company Hudson Valley Property Group has completed an $85 million preservation and renovation of Community Meadows Apartments, formerly Crestbury Apartments. Constructed in 1950 on a 21.5-acre parcel at 2553 S. Eighth Street in Camden’s Morgan Village, Community Meadows Apartments is a two-story apartment community featuring 391 units.
Community Meadows’ upgrades included a complete revitalization of all apartments and a rebuilding and upgrading of site infrastructure. In addition, a high-definition monitoring system was added, providing the property with sitewide security coverage and helping assure compliance with the community standards set forth by HVPG.
Financing for Community Meadows’ acquisition and substantial rehabilitation was provided by tax-exempt conduit bonds through the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, 4 percent low income housing credits purchased by PNC, debt financing furnished by R4 and bridge equity from PNC. Integral to the project’s success was a long-term PILOT agreement supported via the city of Camden. The property is subject to LIHTC income restrictions through a 30-year compliance period. To reside there, residents must earn no more than 60 percent of the area median income.
Significant needs
“The Community Meadows Apartments in Camden had significant physical renovation needs, and securing the proper financing to address those issues and support the project was a key challenge,” Jason Bordainick, HVPG managing partner & co-founder, told Multi-Housing News. “To address this, HVPG worked closely with the city of Camden to gain its support for a long-term PILOT to enable more debt proceeds to be leveraged for the project. At the same time, HVPG secured tax-exempt bonds and 4 percent low-income housing tax credits from NJHMFA which were purchased by PNC Bank to support the renovations. HVPG also developed a customized debt product in partnership with R4 Capital with a private investor on the bonds to support the project.”
Features, finishes
Community Meadows offers one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 650 to 812 square feet. Features and finishes of apartments include wood-style flooring, kitchen serving windows, coat closets, stainless steel kitchen sinks and raised-panel oak kitchen cabinets. A business center is among common-area amenities.
The $25 million renovation of interiors included adding new cabinetry and countertops, new stainless-steel appliances, high-output lighting and water-conserving fixtures. In addition, upgrades included new flooring, sub-floor repairs and wall patching and painting. Fully compliant ADA and H/V units were also created. The revitalization effort, also resulted in a new property management partner, Community Realty Management.
The property is no more than 20 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport. Five public transit stations are within 1.9 to 3.3 miles from the apartment community. Three institutions of higher learning and three shopping centers are within a 10-minute and four-minute drive, respectively. Last month, a Matrix Philadelphia multifamily report revealed the metro’s rental housing continued to benefit from strong demand.
