Farragut Pointe: ‘high-end’ affordable home choices
With tenants already moving in to the apartments, “we’re still in the lease-up phase, but there aren’t many empty units left,” said Stacey McDonald, financial analyst with Hopeful Housing, which owns the development entity, Farragut Pointe Developers, and office manager with Huber Properties, LLC.
“This is a wonderful turnout,” said developer John Huber, owner of Huber Properties, LLC. “There’s no way we could have gotten here without a bunch of partners … to build a Class A facility” with affordable housing.
“This is not just a ribbon cutting,” Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said, adding it shows “what the county can achieve when we support one another.
“People can have decent, affordable places to live. It’s a model of what is possible when there is cooperation,” he added.
Located just off Loop Road, the 124-unit complex contains one-, two- and three-bedroom units in six buildings.
“Our one-bedroom units are 903 square feet, two-bedroom units are 1,074 square feet;and three-bedroom units are 1,261 square feet,” McDonald said. “The total square footage of the entire development, including breezeways, etc., is 164,288 square feet.”
Huber defined the complex as affordable “workforce housing” in a “high-end luxury facility.
“Farragut Pointe is a good example of how quality, affordable housing can be created through a public/private partnership in Tennessee, and we are extremely happy with the final product,” Huber said. “We are excited to provide 124 families new, clean, safe and affordable housing in an excellent west Knoxville location.
“We were able build a high-quality, affordable housing complex through a public/private partnership with (Tennessee Housing Development Agency),” he added. “It involves a creative, but complicated financial model utilizing a one-time issuance of federal tax credits.
“With the inclusion of the tax credits, Farragut Pointe was able to lower its permanent debt on the project, hence lowering its monthly mortgage payment and passing those savings on to its residents.”
“Affordable is defined as serving tenants who earn less than 60 percent of the area median income, which varies by county as well as family size,” McDonald explained. “For this year in Knox County, the four-person AMI is $91,000, so a family of four could not make more than $54,600 (60 percent of $91,000) and qualify to live at Farragut Pointe.
“This limit changes annually and is calculated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” she added.
Farragut Pointe features a handicapped-accessible in-ground pool, a fitness center; a community center with a full kitchen and complimentary coffee, a cyber bar with tenant-accessible computers and printers a playground for children and a dog park for residents’ furry friends.
“Each unit has granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, washer and dryer hookups, 9-foot ceilings and balconies, plus vinyl plank flooring in all common areas of the units,” Huber said.
