Columbia Affordable Housing Apartments to be Renovated
CHRC and LHP Secure $6.8 Million for Rehab Project
The Columbia Housing and Rehabilitation Corporation (CHRC) and LHP Development, LLC are pleased to announce today they
have secured $6.8 million in funding to renovate and preserve the city’s 296 public housing apartments.
Officials said the financing will include investor equity from the project’s successful award of 9 percent low income
housing tax credits from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. In addition, the City of Columbia and the Columbia
Industrial Development Board have approved a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes to support the renovation. LHP and
Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation are co-developers of the project.
“We are thrilled to be moving forward addressing our community’s critical need for quality and affordable homes for
individuals and families with low incomes,” said Trent Ogilvie, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of CHRC. “The excellent partnership we have with the City and with LHP enables us to leverage new financing resources and achieve a more stable funding method for making capital improvements and transforming our affordable housing communities.”
Ogilvie said that CHRC is participating in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Rental Assistance
Demonstration (RAD) project. RAD allows public housing agencies to preserve and renovate public housing apartments by
converting subsidy to a project-based, Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments contract. The program ensures that the
apartments converted to RAD remain affordable to low- and very low-income households.
During the renovation, all apartments will receive new Energy Star appliances, new kitchens and bathrooms, contemporary
fixtures and new flooring throughout. Additionally, major systems such as electrical, HVAC, and plumbing will be
replaced and/or upgraded to improve energy efficiency and reduce utility expenses.
“The preservation of affordable housing is so very important, and we are pleased to be able to assist CHRC in taking a
huge step forward to improve Columbia’s homes for families and individuals with limited incomes,” said David Arning, VicePresident of LHP Development. “At LHP, our goal is to provide quality living environments that residents are happy to
call home.”
Arning said that the project is expected to close by the first quarter of 2017. The rehabilitation will begin immediatelythereafter and will take about 18 months to complete all five communities. Ogilvie said that Columbia’s two oldest
affordable housing apartment communities—-outhern Hills and Creekside—will be renovated during the first phase of the
project.
For more information on CHRC, visit www.chrc-tn.org. For more information on LHP Capital, visit www.lhp.net.
About CHRC
The Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Corporation (CHRC) helps provide secure, affordable, safe and quality housing in
the City of Columbia, Tennessee. CHRC operates 296 affordable apartments in five fabulous communities: Southern Hills,
Oakwood, Creekside, Northridge and Northridge Annex. CHRC is governed by a five-member board of commissioners and its
mission is to provide affordable housing and redevelopment services to improve the quality of life for our residents and the community. For more information, visit www.chrc-tn.org.
About LHP
LHP Capital, along with its operating companies—LHP Development and LHP Management—is a developer and manager of
multi-family housing properties with a primary emphasis on affordable housing. Since 1998 the company formerly known as Lawler Wood Housing and rebranded LHP in 2015 has developed more than 10,000 apartment units in 76 properties with the
majority of those developments utilizing the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program as a source of investment capital.
For more information, visit www.lhp.net