North St. Louis County apartments face foreclosure
Add a big apartment complex to the growing list of local properties facing foreclosure.
Ridgetop Manor, a 250-unit development off Halls Ferry Road near Chambers Road, in north St. Louis County, will be put up for foreclosure auction by the end of February, according to a notice published last week by the Bank of New York Mellon. The complex’s owner, a Minneapolis-based housing nonprofit, has failed to keep up with payments on $6.2 million in bonds it took out in 2000, and now the bondholders want to sell the property.
The owner has found a buyer, the notice said, someone willing to pay $2.9 million for the complex, although two similar deals have fallen through in the past. It will be auctioned no later than Feb. 24.
It’s unclear why the owner, Governmental and Educational Assistance Corp., which owns about 20 apartment and assisted living complexes nationwide, went into default. Representatives did not return calls Tuesday. They paid $4.5 million to buy Ridgetop Manor in 2000, according to St. Louis County property records, and nearly half the project’s units are subsidized by Section 8 housing vouchers, which guarantee a steady stream of income if the units meet maintenance standards. But GEAC has been failing to make regular payments since July 2006.
Some units at Ridgetop Manor have fallen out of compliance with Section 8, according to the foreclosure notice, and nearly 10 percent of the complex is currently "uninhabitable," according to a real estate listing on the property classic car insurance.
While a rising tide of foreclosure has hit single-family houses, and credit problems have stalled a number of office and retail projects in recent months, the apartment industry has remained fairly strong. Several local experts said Tuesday that the Ridgetop Manor foreclosure does not foretell a trend.
"I don’t think this is the beginning of a wave," said Ted Greenberg, a vice president with CB Richard Ellis in Clayton, which is listing the property. "Apartment complexes can adjust more easily to the market."
But, it appears, Ridgetop Manor soon will be doing so under new ownership.
tlogan@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8291
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