Tim Landis
The State Journal-Register
A major renovation of MacArthur Park Apartments in Springfield should begin in the next few weeks.
Kansas-based Cohen-Esrey Affordable Partners completed the purchase last week of the 184-unit complex at 2715 S. MacArthur Blvd. The national developer of low- and middle-income housing has filed for dozens of city construction permits in preparation for a project now estimated to cost a little more than $19 million.
“We expect to be well underway with the renovation project near the first of the year,” Cohen-Esrey managing director Tom Anderson said Friday. Anderson said work will be done in phases to minimize disruption for residents and should be completed in early 2017. Construction will begin with the approximately 30 percent of apartments that are vacant.
Cohen-Esrey received approval in October from the Illinois Housing Development Authority for up to $15 million in financing and a little more than $1.3 million in tax credits to purchase and restore the apartments. A condition of the state assistance was that apartments remain affordable based on federal income guidelines for the MacArthur Boulevard area. Previous owner Granite City Investment Co. marketed a two-bedroom, 1 1/2-bathroom apartment for $525 a month.
In addition to apartment upgrades, Cohen-Esrey plans a community garden, security improvements, additional resident amenities, and repaving of sidewalks, driveways and the parking lot.
Granite City Investment repaired hundreds of building code violations last year through a 2013 settlement with the city that included $57,465 in fines. The company purchased MacArthur Park Apartments in 1998, according to records at the Sangamon County assessor’s office.
The apartments were the source of frequent police calls for years, but Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin said the area has been much quieter, based on monthly police department updates. As part of the code violation repairs ordered by the city, local apartment management implemented stricter screening of would-be renters.
McMenamin said he believes the Cohen-Esrey project will provide a significant boosts for long-term efforts to improve housings and commercial development along the boulevard.
“This is the last step of an 18-month finance and purchase,” McMenamin said. “This is good for local jobs, it’s good for the local housing market, and it’s good for MacArthur Boulevard.”
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 