Anderson Housing Authority receives funding for long-planned affordable housing apartment renovations

With the allocation of federal American Rescue Plan funds, the Anderson Housing Authority says it can move forward with a long-planned refurbishment of Lincolnshire Apartments in the city.  As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, the agency will have an additional $500,000 to do so.

Located at 330 W 12th St in Anderson, the Lincolnshire Apartments building has been left vacant for about 10 years. In 2021, the Anderson Housing Authority purchased the building for $480,000 with plans to renovate it and build affordable housing units.  But the COVID-19 pandemic created supply chain issues and other financial difficulties across the country.

Kevin Sulc, Chief Operating Officer for the housing authority, says as it spent time looking for alternative financing, the project only got more expensive.

“Some roadblocks came up. And of course, the more time goes on, obviously, prices don’t stay the same. So, we continued to struggle with, you know, the price of the project just because of increase of inflation, increase cost of materials.”

After a New Year’s Eve meeting of the Anderson City Council, which had to assign all the money by a federal deadline, the agency was allocated $500,000.  Sulc says it was able to secure a construction loan.

The plan for Lincolnshire Apartments is to create 21 single bedroom units and 11 studio apartments on the building’s bottom floor. These units will house one to two people in them at a time with disability accessible units being available on the builds ground floor.

The original nameplate still in place at Lincolnshire apartments. (Thomas Ouellette/IPR)

The total cost for the Lincolnshire redevelopment will sit at right around $4 million. Housing Authority officials say that the most expensive part of the renovations will be the interior demolition. The building was originally constructed in the early 1900s, so that includes removing lead and asbestos.

Sulc says that the construction timeline for the renovation will hopefully see work begin at the end of this month, with the apartment opening for tenants in the spring of 2026.

Lincolnshire Apartments will have no shared ownership, falling completely under the management of the Anderson Housing Authority

Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer.  Contact him at [email protected]