Photo by Dave Flessner / Ridgeway Apartments will undergo a $4.5 million upgrade next year. The Vitus Group acquired the downtown apartments for $5.6 million.A Seattle-based developer and operator of affordable housing projects has acquired the Ridgeway Apartments on Chattanooga's downtown Westside and will begin a $4.5 million upgrade of the 53-year-old complex in early 2019.
The Vitas Group acquired the Poplar Street complex for $5.6 million and will continue to rent the 120 units at affordable rates under the federal Section 8 rental program, which Vitus is in the process of renewing and extending for another 20 years.
"Chattanooga is a prime candidate for affordable housing preservation with rapidly increasing market rents and relatively stagnant incomes," said Scott Langan, director of development at Vitus. "Over half of renters in Chattanooga are considered rent burdened, paying over 30 percent of their income towards rent. Acquiring Ridgeway Apartments will preserve a valuable centrally-located apartment community for years to come and the associated rehabilitation will add years of life to the physical structure."
The Ridgeway Apartments are the first acquisition by Vitus in the Chattanooga market, but the company also recently acquired Meadowood Apartments in Alcoa, Tennessee.
"We are excited for the chance to expand our footprint throughout Chattanooga and Tennessee and are always looking for new opportunities," Langan said. "We are also converting six of the 120 units to be ADA accessible, and the leasing office will be expanded to contain a community room with social programming and tenant services."
The new owners plan to replace the roof, windows, HVAC systems for the apartment buildings along with the kitchen cabinets, countertops, appliances, flooring, bathroom vanities and plumbing fixtures in each unit., Langan said.
No tenants will be displaced as a result of the renovation, officials said.
The 91,492-square-foot apartment complex at 1230 Poplar Street just west of Highway 27 was built in 1965 and has been used for HUD-designated affordable housing through most of its history.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340