Today's focus: commercial real estate

Unbeatable location at an affordable price

By Dwight Adams

May 24, 2007

The bright marble walls and flooring in the Rink's foyer belie the apartment building's checkered past.

But there's no denying it represents another big piece of the city's affordable housing puzzle.

The $7.4 million Rink-Savoy redevelopment -- which includes 60 one- and two-bedroom apartments and five condominiums -- was unveiled Wednesday to smiles and accolades.

Plagued by crime, neglect and arson in the 1970s and '80s, the century-old buildings at the northeast corner of Illinois and Vermont streets were deemed unsafe and shut down by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1998.

They sat vacant until the Riley Area Development Corp. stepped in. The city acquired the Rink-Savoy through foreclosure and passed the property to Riley for free in 2005 -- in exchange for a commitment of $100,000 to the Housing Trust Fund to promote more affordable housing. The city also contributed more than $450,000 in federal grants for the Downtown project.

For 15 months, Riley has worked with Mansur Real Estate Services to redevelop the site into comfortable housing units -- many with unbeatable Downtown views.

"It's just astonishing. It's so beautiful," said Linda Alexander, a tenant and member of the Riley board. "I'm just so thankful to God that I'm here."

This is a homecoming for Alexander, who said she lived at the Rink-Savoy 34 years ago as a young woman just starting out on her own.

It's a different time, but it's also the first apartment for Zack Meador, 22, a server at the Conrad hotel, who moved into a third-floor, one- bedroom unit in the Rink in March.

Meador said he appreciates the history of the building and the diversity and friendliness of its tenants. "I knew right away that this was going to be my favorite place," he said.

Of the 18 units set aside for very low-income residents -- earning less than $13,000 a year -- all are now rented. The five condos on the seventh floor of the Rink also have been sold -- at less than $100,000 apiece -- and more than half of the remaining units geared for moderate-income residents already are rented, although applications still are being accepted. The apartments range in size from 650 to 850 square feet.

Bill Gray, executive director of the Riley Area Development Corp., said the Rink-Savoy's rehab -- which had thwarted other developers -- was a formidable task at first.

"It probably was in the worst shape of any building that we've ever done," Gray said. "It took a lot of ingenuity and work by Mansur, our partner."

Mayor Bart Peterson pointed out the Rink-Savoy was the third major redevelopment project in the square-block area -- citing the Continental Towers at 410 N. Meridian St. (formerly the Lionel Artis Center) and the Blacherne at 402 N. Meridian St.

Peterson also said the Rink-Savoy's rental income will add $35,000 annually to the Housing Trust Fund.

"There is not one part of Indianapolis that is suited for supportive housing," he said. "We need to have supportive housing everywhere in the city -- even in our Downtown business district."