A ‘70s Revival

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Westminster, N.Y.—Enterprise Homes has re-opened Westminster Overlook, an affordable apartment community that serves seniors and adults with disabilities. The apartments are at 30 Locust St. in Westminster, Md., which is in Carroll County, which is northwest of Baltimore.

Enterprise acquired the property, a seven-story building formerly called Locust House Apartments, and undertook a complete renovation. Built in 1978, Westminister Overlook is comprised of 98 one-bedroom apartments that are 100 percent leased. This is the first renovation for the building.

The renovation included full upgrades to the building’s systems and modernization of its kitchens, bathrooms and common areas. Enterprise also added green features to the property to lower overall operating costs.

Financing for the $15.1 million acquisition and renovation was, as typical with this kind of work, a complex mix. It included Low Income Housing Tax Credits, State of Maryland Rental Housing Works and Partnership Rental Housing funds, a Maryland tax-exempt bond purchased by Bank of America, and an FHA-insured a permanent loan from Wells Fargo Bank. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta also provided a grant, and the project used developer equity and in-kind support from the City of Westminster as well.

Enterprise Homes senior vice president Christine Madigan told MHN that the most significant challenge in this kind of affordable housing redevelopment is assembling and coordinating the financing. “It took 11 sources of financing to acquire and renovate Westminster Overlook—including the bridge financing used to acquire the property —and that’s not unusual,” she said. “It’s the financing that allows us to preserve affordability, so complex as it is, it’s worth it.”

Architecture by Design oversaw the design and Harkins Builders Inc. was the general contractor. Property management services are provided by Habitat America.