A housing investor has bought 132 residential units in Cheyenne, seeking to preserve those developments and keep the units affordable.
Lincoln Avenue Capital takes advantage of federal tax credits to preserve, build, or provide affordable units. The group is purchasing two existing developments in Cheyenne – one for seniors and one for families.
Ben Taylor, Lincoln Avenue Capital vice president and project partner, said they will renovate and update the Cheyenne properties.
"That's kind of the beauty of the affordable program," Taylor said. "We can put that amount of money into a property. So on a property like this, that's going to be somewhere between a $4 to $5 million investment in the property, and their rents won't change."
It's not the first group of out-of-state investors to buy up or take over residential units in Wyoming. In Albany County, one trailer park saw their rents jump more than 50 percent in two years, while a "beautification project" required them to get rid of any dog larger than a chihuahua. In Teton County, an out-of-state firm bought a significant percentage of a trailer park and residents there were given a short eviction notice.
But Taylor said Lincoln Avenue Capital is not like other groups.
Lincoln Avenue Capital builds and operates what is known as Section 42 housing. With Section 42, tenants pay their own rent, but that rent is restricted by the local area's median income. In exchange, Lincoln Avenue Capital receives tax credits that allow them to keep the rent low. Taylor said the group can use its experience elsewhere to generate creative financing solutions to help afford renovations without raising rent.
"We have to operate with the regulations and requirements of Section 42," he said. "So that does not allow us to charge more rent because we added a pool to the property."
This is Lincoln Avenue Capital's first foray into Wyoming. The group owns or operates more than 19,000 residential units in 18 other states.