Plans for these affordable Beaufort apartments will raise rent, drive out tenants

Crystal Corley emerged from her apartment and moved toward her gold sedan as she talked on speakerphone Tuesday afternoon, her two young daughters following closely behind for what has become a regular routine.

The air conditioning in Corley’s two-bedroom apartment hasn’t worked for months, she said, so the family often drives to her aunt’s house near Laurel Bay to escape the summer heat. Corley has lived for two years in Lady’s Pointe apartments on Old Salem Road in Beaufort, and her list of issues with the apartments and the often-changing face of local management has grown.

Rent at the federally regulated low-income housing is less than $600, one of the precious few options the 24-year-old mother can afford in an area in which apartments stay booked and command waiting lists. But that’s changing soon: the Lady’s Pointe apartments are expected to be renovated and return to market rent rates, requiring tenants to move.

The owner of the 93 apartments in two developments in Beaufort — Lady’s Pointe I and II — plans to update the buildings inside and out and begin charging market rate, forcing current residents to find another place to live, a letter from property managers to residents said.

Property managers told residents they could have priority if they applied early for a limited number of apartments available in Marsh Pointe, a new development managed by the same company on Ribaut Road in Port Royal.

The Lady’s Pointe properties are owned by a limited partnership registered to Mark Stuckey, president of Columbia-based InterMark Management, county and state records show. The apartments are under the company’s management, according to its website.

InterMark also operates a new apartment development on Hazel Farm Road on Lady’s Island; Bay South apartments in Beaufort; and Shell Pointe apartments off Parris Island Gateway.

Three phone messages for InterMark’s headquarters weren’t returned as of Wednesday afternoon. In a brief email response to questions left with InterMark representative Kara Shaw, the company said plans are still being finalized, but work to renovate the buildings is expected to begin in October.

The first phase of Lady’s Pointe on Salem Road was built in 1989. The second phase was built around the corner on Old Salem Road in 1991, property records show.

The rural development loan requires rent remain affordable to low-income tenants. The loan can be paid off early with certain conditions.

Lady’s Pointe had to be marketed to nonprofit organizations and public agencies for 180 days starting in January, but no buyer was found, a USDA letter to residents said in late July. After the 180 days, the loan can be repaid early and the property is no longer subject to the rent-limit rules.

Current residents have the option to break their lease early without penalty or stay until the lease expires. Many people have already moved out, residents said Tuesday.

While Lady’s Pointe was better than some alternatives and the rent affordable, residents reported difficulty communicating with management and repairs that went months without being addressed.

Kelly Wright said the ceiling over the washer and dryer in her two-bedroom apartment, where she has lived with her son for five years, fell apart after a water leak and was never fixed. Pipes remain exposed and leaks have cost her in the form of higher water bills, she said.

“We do not believe this to be true,” Shaw wrote in response to a question about residents reporting maintenance issues that went months without repairs.

Wright plans to move this week to Ashton Pointe off of Boundary Street. Rent at the newly built affordable housing development is also subject to income limits but will cost about $400 more each month than what she was paying at Lady’s Pointe, Wright said.

She said she is recently married and able to afford the steep jump.

“With me alone, there’s no way I could afford it, plus pay other bills,” Wright said.

A letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified Lady’s Pointe residents of the owner’s intent to pay off the federal rural development loan early. The payoff is expected between the end of September and next March. A federal voucher is available for tenants to help pay for the difference in market-rate rent. Tenants were eligible for a letter placing them at the top of the waiting list for other properties developed with federal loans, the federal agency wrote.

Waiting lists for apartments are common in Beaufort County and affordable options are scarce.

“The loss of this many units is really damaging to not only the supply of affordable housing, but the economy as well,” said Beaufort Housing Authority director Angela Childers, whose agency works with Lady’s Pointe tenants who receive housing choice vouchers.

“ ... although we’re doing everything we can do help the ones we serve find affordable housing elsewhere, there are many people over there we don’t serve, and we hope they are getting the assistance they need in relocating .”

A recently completed Beaufort County housing needs assessment “clearly demonstrates the need for more affordable housing, not less,” Childers said.

The report found almost half of renters in Beaufort County pay more than 30 percent of their income toward housing costs, the threshold determining which households are deemed “cost-burdened.”

In unincorporated areas of northern Beaufort County, 55 percent of renters reported being cost-burdened.

The survey found 18 percent of county residents can afford only up to $500 in rent, and that only 6.3 percent of the market listed for less.

“There’s more people that have a certain income level than the inventory that they can afford,” Patrick Bowen, president of Bowen National Research, said when the study was released. “So what happens is that those people are moving up to the next product level and they’re paying a higher share of their income.”

Local government officials throughout the county have declared the availability of affordable housing a key issue.

In Beaufort, the Housing Authority plans a small apartment development at Ribaut Road and North Street while a new Habitat for Humanity development is planned in Mossy Oaks. A 46-unit complex is working to apply for low-income housing tax credit status and a 49-unit senior housing development is in the design phase.

Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce President Larry Holman said this week his organization planned to explore property to partner with municipalities in developing affordable housing.

Corley is working to move to Port Royal. This week, she was trying to ready her 7-year-old daughter, Caylon, for school, but unsure which school she will be attending.

Corley is eight months pregnant and on leave from her job at Walmart in Hardeeville. She is supposed to have been on bed rest for the past five months, she said, but has been packing, searching for a new place to live and thinking about school uniforms while avoiding her apartment while the AC is out.

Though already stretching her budget, she expects to pay much more for her next home.

“It’s kind of hard here in Beaufort getting somewhere for those decent prices, and places that do have affordable rent are usually full,” she said. “When you’re trying to hurry up and move, it’s like take what you can get.”

This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 4:47 PM.