Posted November 28, 200519 yr From the 11/28/05 Cincinnati Business Courier: New owners to spruce up Fay complex Dan Monk Senior Staff Reporter A Washington, D.C., nonprofit plans to invest $35 million to buy and renovate one of Cincinnati's largest low-income housing complexes in an attempt to upgrade units and reduce crime at the Fay Apartments. The 893-unit West Side community would be renovated and downsized by more than 150 units under a memorandum of understanding signed recently between the National Housing Trust and Fay's current owner, downtown-based Stern-Hendy Properties Inc. Click link for article. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/11/28/story3.html
March 14, 200817 yr Fay Apartments upgrade caught in credit crunch BY DAN MONK | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER March 14, 2008 Fallout from the nation's credit crunch might force owners of the Fay Apartments to scale back a planned $35 million renovation of the low-income housing community on Cincinnati's West Side. Click link for article.
March 14, 200817 yr For those who may wonder, fay apartments is between I-74 and Westwood Northern Blvd, in the same area as the now defunct English Woods. location on Google Map It is barely visible at the top of the hill in this photograph that I took from this site. (Thanks Jake)
March 14, 200817 yr English Woods was one scary and depressing place. Fay is only a little better. Hills hide a lot in Cincinnati, for good or ill.
March 15, 200817 yr I never really felt uncomfortable going to the Fay. It was home to alot of my family's friends but this development is really needed. The land and the people deserve better.
March 16, 200817 yr Previous shifts, driven by bankruptcies and demolitions of large low-income communities in Over-the-Rhine, the West End and Bond Hill, triggered major demographic changes and complaints about crime and blight in West Side neighborhoods. Have you noticed that No One in OTR is saying, either in this article or otherwise, that fixing Fay will just push crime back down here or someplace else? I think that it is great what they are doing and hope that more and more happens in West Side communities and others, but I wish they would show the same support for us. One day I guess, one day :|.
May 6, 200817 yr Given the most recent set of events within the past week, this is no surprise. How about City-Rama 2010,11, and 12???? These owners are dragging there feet. Fay Apartments Renovation On Hold http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=324df7da-a919-4991-9caf-52f9ccdaacb7 Last Update: 6:25 pm Reported by: Jenell Walton Web produced by: Ian Preuth A multi-million dollar plan to renovate one of the city's most dilapidated public housing complexes is now on hold. Some fear this may mean hundreds of families living in the Fay Apartments could be forced to move. There are about 900 units at the Fay Apartments. However, years of neglect have forced the owners to shut down several buildings. Click link for article.
December 12, 200816 yr New Fay Apartments plan asks for $5M Cincinnati loan http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/12/15/tidbits1.html Owners of the Fay Apartments are seeking a $5 million loan from the city of Cincinnati, following approval of a downsized renovation plan by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Click link for article.
December 12, 200816 yr 30k per unit??? The residents could never pay that back. Why continue to spend money on a losing cause? i been in these units. I didn't find 30k worth of improvements that needs to be done. Just remodel the units that needs it.
June 12, 200916 yr Cincinati's Fay Apartments could go green Owner of the facility seeks stimulus funds for renovation http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2009/06/15/story4.html Owners of the Fay Apartments are counting on the federal stimulus bill to pump some extra green into a long-planned renovation of the low-income housing community on Cincinnati’s West Side. In the works since 2005, it was delayed by the credit crunch last year and had to be downsized to secure a financing commitment from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Wallick-Hendy Properties, a Cincinnati-based subsidiary of Wallick Cos. in Columbus, is seeking $3.2 million from the city and a $5.1 million tax abatement to complete the nearly $33 million project. Click link for article.
June 12, 200916 yr Just bulldoze this crap! I see the Bluffs of East Westwood someday. :wink: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=qhshhz7ym2wj&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=35142840&encType=1
June 23, 200915 yr Council OKs $4.4M in grants http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090622/NEWS0108/906230348/1055/NEWS/Council+OKs++4.4M+in+grants Cincinnati City Council members approved two federal grants Monday -- one to give $3 million to help renovate the Fay Apartments, the other $1.4 million to develop 25 apartments for homeless people. Click link for article.
June 23, 200915 yr My comments in relation to the Jimmy Heath House bit, as posted on BC -- I'm in support of projects that can stimulate the homeless to begin to better their situation, but at what expense to taxpayers who demand accountability? As of right now, the Drop Inn and other social service agencies that are clustered in OTR nibble at the teet of taxpayers and donations, but offer no substantial return or factual statements that can be verified. While some may be better off as a result of these programs, not all are and there is no way of knowing what the success rate is. Allowing the homeless to consume alcohol to somehow "better" ones self is enabling them to merely stay within that situation. How are they paying rent if it is taxpayer supported, if the primary tenants are homeless? What incentive is there for the homeless to maintain the property and remain model tenants if there is no initiative if this agency is enabling bad ills that this particular subset does not need? There are too many unknowns and not enough facts that I can't throw my support around yet another social service agency in an already saturated (social service) OTR. There is a reason why no other neighborhood desired this.
June 23, 200915 yr Channel 9 said demo of 17 buildings was included with this grant for Fay Apts. Is that right? 17?
June 23, 200915 yr A little more detail...... $32M Renovation Project Planned For Fay Apartments http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/32M-Renovation-Project-Planned-For-Fay-Apartments/57YuQNKM_0myjWv37vJx9A.cspx Last Update: 11:32 pm Cincinnati city council's finance committee approved a $32 million renovation project for the Fay Apartments on Monday Click link for article.
June 24, 200915 yr My comments in relation to the Jimmy Heath House bit, as posted on BC -- Allowing the homeless to consume alcohol to somehow "better" ones self is enabling them to merely stay within that situation. Housing programs have long required the "sober first" stipulation. But without a stable living environment, getting sober was difficult if not impoosible. The "housing first" model originated as a way to address this failure. It seems to have a degree of success, rather then "enabling them to merely stay within that situation."
July 2, 200915 yr Fay developer gets funding for $32M rehabilitation http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2009/07/fay-developer-gets-funding-for-32m.html The passage of two ordinances by Cincinnati City Council means that Wallick-Hendy Development will get additional funding for the $32 million rehabilitation of the troubled Fay Apartments. One ordinance extends a $3.2 million amortizing federal HOME loan to Fay Limited Partnership, at 2 percent interest and payable over 40 years, with a maximum annual payment of nearly $117,000; The second ordinance extends a 12-year Community Reinvestment Area LEED tax exemption agreement to the developer worth 75 percent of the increased tax value of the property, or about $5.1 million over the life of the agreement. Councilmembers Jeff Berding, Chris Bortz, and Chris Monzel voted against both ordinances. The developer plans to demolish 17 outdated buildings and reduce the number of units by 20 percent, from 893 to 703. Many of the two-bedroom units will be converted into more marketable three-bedroom apartments. They also plan increased services and amenities – including an on-site daycare – and a close working relationship with Roll Hill Elementary School, in which Fay children represent 85 percent of enrollment. Wallick-Hendy also has registered the project with the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED NC 2.2 development, and says that the project will be the largest green and LEED project in the multi-family sector in Midwest, and possibly the country. In terrible shape Built in 1962, the complex once housed 1,025 market-rate units; today, only 115 market-rate apartments are left out of the remaining 893 units. Wallick-Hendy has been working on plans to rehabilitate the apartments since 2005. Joe Morgan, NSP manager with the East Westwood Community Council, was one of half a dozen community representatives to send council a letter of support, saying that Fay was in terrible shape. "There is inadequate insulation in these apartments, no central air conditioning at all and very old appliances which needs to be replaced," he said. "Please do your best to see that these residents of our city gets the apartments that will allow them to be warm in the winter, cool in the summer and a place that they will be proud to call their home." Fay Community Council endorsed the rehabilitation plan at its meeting on July 28, 2008, and Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency also sent a letter of support. 'Phase out the killing fields' Strong opposition to the funding came from the community of Westwood – specifically the Westwood Civic Association (WCA), which voted against the use of City tax dollars for the project at its June 9 meeting. "The west side has suffered long enough from the crime and blight caused by this publicly funded housing project," said WCA president John Sess. "If the owner wishes to pursue rehabbing the complex using his own money, then we have no objection." In a separate letter, WCA vice president Jim McNulty asked council to "phase out the killing fields". "If you don't care about the victims who have to live there, think about how much of the city's precious budget is spent there for police, fire, and other services," he said. McNulty said that incentives like the LEED tax exemption won't protect the complex's children from the mayhem and will only serve to enrich the developers. "It's time to declare the Fay a failed social experiment," he said. "To give those slumlords more of our tax money in their pockets adds insult to injury to every legitimate taxpayer in the area." But the Faith Community Alliance of Greater Cincinnati (FCA) believes that safety concerns will be addressed by the reduction in the number of units, new gates, and increased security. Wallick-Hendy has said that it will dedicate $800,000 to $1 million of its budget to enhanced security. "Most of the crime and other problems experienced at Fay are the result of outsiders who come in unimpeded," said the FCA. "Security will be further enhanced with the installation of more security cameras and the hiring of more off-duty Cincinnati police officers." Worries about displacement Lois Broerman, executive director of the North Fairmount Community Center, agreed with the plans, adding that increasing the size of the units and bolstering the screening process would help. And she advised the Westwood Civic Association to "butt out" and to focus on its job of improving Westwood. "If you think what happened to Westwood and Price Hill was bad when English Woods was demolished, I can't imagine the negative impact on Westwood and Price Hill and beyond if the Fay were to be destroyed," Broerman said. Tenants United for Truth, an affordable housing advocacy group, supported the project, saying that Fay's closure would lead to dire consequences for the approximately 3,000 residents. They also worried that displaced tenants receiving Section 8 vouchers might have trouble finding adequate housing. "Fay and other affordable housing complexes in the city allow for those with limited incomes to afford monthly rent," Tenants United for Truth said. "Access to such affordable housing prevents homelessness and promotes family stability." In its letter, FCA voiced its worry that the City would be unable to absorb so many voucher recipients within such a short period of time. "FCA would like to remind the city that when major relocation projects affecting the poor were completed in the past, little consideration was given as to where these families would live and reside," FCA said. "The results were often the upsetting of neighborhoods and hostility to the poor. Here, the City has an opportunity to avoid another one of these situations." Rev. Gregory Chandler Sr. of the AMOS Project agreed, adding that the rehabilitation would have even broader benefits for the community. "As you know, AMOS believes that development projects dependent on public financing should be required to benefit the broader community by hiring local residents, especially African-Americans, and by including minority-owned firms in the work," he said. Work to start soon Renovation work is now on schedule to begin soon, with demolition of the buildings likely to occur near the end of the project to avoid as many displacements as possible. The project is scheduled for completion in July 2012. Other funds for the project will come from a $28 million HUD loan and $1.5 million in developer equity.
July 14, 200915 yr For once a story of hope in a rather bleak part of town... Community Festival at Fay Apartments http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Community-Festival-at-Fay-Apartments/xAfeFEItO0uMcwhRfNMG8A.cspx The Fay Apartments in the Fairmount area of city of Cincinnati often finds itself on the news. Shootings and even murders happen there on a regular basis. There is no arguing with the fact that crime is a problem. Click link for article.
December 14, 201113 yr I heard that UC has been commissioned to do a study on how the green technology features impact living at the renovated apartments. “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
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