POAH - Preservation of Affordable Housing

The Preservation Challenge
The adjoining properties at Highland Acres and Highland Meadows represent a very valuable asset in Carthage, Missouri. Demographers studying this rural town in the southeast corner of the state identify it as needing to anticipate a growing elderly population; in the 2000 US census, almost 20% of the town was age 65 or over. Of equal concern to POAH, 13% of the town's elderly population lives below the poverty line.

Both sites feature single-story attached homes with comfortable one-bedroom apartments. Each apartment has its own outdoor patio. The nine buildings on five acres at Highland Acres include 35 apartments as well as a community room. At Highland Meadows, 44 apartments are situated among eleven buildings on four acres, with a separate building housing the community room as well as an office shared by both properties. The nearby neighborhood is solidly residential, with easy access to several highways and the Carthage business district.

POAH’s Role
The Highland Acres and Meadows properties were part of POAH's inaugural 2001 purchase. A pre-sale report from an appraiser engaged by the seller asserted that these properties could convert to market-rate rents with "no, or at least little, disruption."

Highland Acres and Highland Meadows were built between 1978 and 1980, and needed few repairs when POAH became their owner. Both properties have historically been fully occupied, a testament to their value to the community's population of elders on fixed incomes.

520 Airport Drive Carthage, MO 64836 Preserving the 79 apartments for low-income elders at these adjoining sites was essential: one in five adults in Carthage is over the age of 65, and demographers predict an increasingly older population in the town over the next decade. Nonetheless, an appraisal commissioned for POAH's purchase suggested the properties could be converted to market rents with "little disruption."	Project Partners • Missouri Housing Development Commission • US Department of Housing and Community Development (HUD) The Preservation Challenge The adjoining properties at Highland Acres and Highland Meadows represent a very valuable asset in Carthage, Missouri. Demographers studying this rural town in the southeast corner of the state identify it as needing to anticipate a growing elderly population; in the 2000 US census, almost 20% of the town was age 65 or over. Of equal concern to POAH, 13% of the town's elderly population lives below the poverty line. Both sites feature single-story attached homes with comfortable one-bedroom apartments. Each apartment has its own outdoor patio. The nine buildings on five acres at Highland Acres include 35 apartments as well as a community room. At Highland Meadows, 44 apartments are situated among eleven buildings on four acres, with a separate building housing the community room as well as an office shared by both properties. The nearby neighborhood is solidly residential, with easy access to several highways and the Carthage business district. POAH’s Role The Highland Acres and Meadows properties were part of POAH's inaugural 2001 purchase. A pre-sale report from an appraiser engaged by the seller asserted that these properties could convert to market-rate rents with "no, or at least little, disruption." Highland Acres and Highland Meadows were built between 1978 and 1980, and needed few repairs when POAH became their owner. Both properties have historically been fully occupied, a testament to their value to the community's population of elders on fixed incomes.
© Preservation of Affordable Housing