High-density apartments at Village at Sandhill raise concerns

A large apartment complex at the Village at Sandhill backed by a federal housing program appears to be gaining acceptance from neighbors who worried the apartments could hurt their property values and add to traffic congestion around the retail mall.

The buildings that will become Nexus at Sandhill Apartments are nearing completion and in August renters will begin moving into some units on the 10-acre site, according to developer Charles Kahn. He said the complex is owned and managed by a group of private investors, but not the Village at Sandhill or Alan Kahn, his father.

Village at Sandhill has had a tough run in recent years. Alan Kahn, who envisioned and built the shopping complex, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013, and ultimately lost about a third of the Clemson Road development.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has backed the mortgage for the 240-unit, $18 million project under a program aimed at moderate-income renters. The HUD label raised questions about whether the rents would be federally subsidized and draw low-income occupants. But Charles Kahn said that is not the case.

“HUD offers an insured mortgage program to facilitate new construction of multi-family rental properties,” said Charles Kahn, who also is Kahn Development vice president.

“This project is purely a market rate apartment project that is open to anyone and subject only to normal tenant selection, as found in any other first-class apartment community,” he said. “There are no income regulations or set asides.”

The apartments are located at the rear of the sprawling, 300-acre shopping complex along a curve of Fashion Drive between an IMAX movie theater and a Belk store.

Village at Sandhill’s original 2004 concept was to be a mixture of residential, commercial, office, entertainment and recreational features.

The board of directors of Woodlake Homeowners Association began taking notice of the apartment complex in January.

“I don’t think that all of us realized there might be some very high-density housing,” at Village at Sandhill, said Debbie Morris, association president of the 200-home, high-end neighborhood on the other side of Clemson Road. “We were surprised.”

Several Woodlake residents contacted the association wondering if the apartments were going to be Section 8, which tend to be low-income, rent-subsidized housing, Morris said. “When you hear ‘HUD housing,’ it sort of takes you in that direction,” she said.

“We were concerned it would change the original concept of the Village at Sandhill being sort of an upscale area,” Morris said. “It would also perhaps impact – if that’s what it was – the values of houses around here. Additionally, it would change traffic and it would also change schools. The potential is also that it would change Sandhill itself.”

More than a decade ago, the plan for Sandhill was to cater to living, shopping, recreation and other activities, all within close proximity. Condos were part of the original plan. But there weren’t enough buyers, so the condos started to be rented, Morris said.

“So what happens with these?” she asked of the prospect that new apartments also could end up with vacancies.

Charles Kahn ultimately allayed the association’s concerns, Morris said.

“I was contacted by a neighborhood association,” Kahn told The State newspaper. “And I believe I helped them understand that this is not a departure from the original concept, but rather a step toward the completion of the project as originally conceived.

“Having upscale apartments fills a necessary housing need in the community and does not detract from existing home values,” he said. “The finishes and features of these apartment homes are of the highest grade available anywhere in Columbia.”

The apartments will offer one-, two- and tjree-bedroom units ranging from 750-square feet to 1,320-square feet. Construction began in September, Kahn said. The complex will feature 28 three-bedroom units, but mostly one and two bedrooms. Tenants will have a clubhouse, fitness room, pool, and garages, according to Kahn and construction documents.

Rents have not been finalized, he said.

There will be a minimum of 480 parking spaces, or two per apartment, and include garages.

The Nexus complex is backed by a federal mortgage insurance program that helps to finance rental, co-op or multi-family housing for moderate income households, and for elderly residents, a HUD spokesman in Washington said. The program is one of the agency’s major drivers of new construction or substantial multi-family housing rehabilitation, spokesman Brian Sullivan said.

“This is a HUD-backed mortgage, but it is not a HUD loan,” Sullivan said. “HUD is not the lender here. And like all mortgage insurance programs, without that insurance, it could be that lenders would not lend the money to the developers to construct it.”

A moderate income person is typically someone earning between 80 percent and 120 percent of an area’s median income. Low income is earnings of less than 80 percent. Other categories include very low and extremely low.

For Richland, Lexington and Fairfield counties, moderate incomes would be between $22,351 and $35,750 for a two-person household. Moderate income for a family of four ranges between $27,901 and $44,650, according to the Central Midlands Council of Governments.

But the Nexus apartments are not subject to any income restrictions and will be priced competitively with other new upscale properties, Kahn said.

Torrey Rush is chairman of Richland County Council but does not represent the Sandhill area on council. He said he knows little about the complex but hasn’t heard complaints.

Rush is well aware of the stigma that can follow HUD housing.

“When people hear HUD, immediately they go to low-income housing,” he said. “Affordable housing is not low income. If you can afford the housing, you should be welcomed there.”

Kahn said the apartments’ central draw is the location.

“What really sets this project apart is its setting within Columbia’s premier lifestyle center where residents enjoy unparalleled convenience, by having so many necessary services – food, entertainment, and shopping just steps away from their homes,” he said.

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 8:59 PM with the headline "High-density apartments at Village at Sandhill raise concerns."