First Street Flats is officially open in Milford.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was June 8 at 1100 First Street to welcome the new 21-unit apartment complex to the community.
Jake Hoppe of Hoppe Development of Lincoln said the project of renovating the former Crestview Care Center into apartments was a true community effort.
“We were invited to think about what we could do with this closed-down nursing home. Could we save what would otherwise be a blight in the community?” he said.
Crestview closed its doors in 2019 after Azira Health purchased it in September along with three other nursing facilities in Utica, Blue Hill and Columbus. By Nov. 21, nearly 200 residents and 240 employees had lost their homes and jobs as all four facilities were shut down.
Milford Mayor Patrick Kelley said it fell to the city to figure out what to do with the building that sat empty until 2022.
“Originally when Crestview closed, I reached out to Kevin Wingard, superintendent at Milford Public Schools, and a couple different school board members to get their take on any interest in the space. We wanted them to have the first option at that space,” Kelley said, since the care center was next door to Milford Elementary.
He said the school district had no use for the land, so the city began exploring other options.
“Hoppe and his team seemed like the perfect fit,” Kelley said.
Hoppe Development had tackled similar projects before, renovating former care centers in Fremont and West Point into housing.
“These nursing homes were closing all over Nebraska,” Hoppe said.
They worked through a public engagement process with the City of Milford, the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership and neighbors living near the building to come up with a solution and address any issues along the way, Hoppe said.
At the time, the building was valued at $750,000, and Hoppe planned a $2.5 million renovation with Scheele-Kayton Construction of Lincoln as the general contractor for the project.
Hoppe secured a loan from the Rural Workforce Housing Fund, a statewide program that allows county-level nonprofits to distribute loans to increase the supply and quality of affordable housing in their communities.
The City of Milford contributed more than $30,000 of LB 840 (local option sales tax) funds to the Workforce Housing fund.
The project also received $256,000 in Tax Increment Financing, which allows a developer to defer taxes on the valuation increase for up to 15 years, and Hoppe worked with two local banks for financing.
“This was a great combination of public and private funds coming together to bring added housing options to Milford,” Kelley said.
Hoppe said the one-bedroom, two-bedroom and studio apartments will rent at the market rate. They are not subsidized and have no income restrictions, but they will cost renters less because of the Workforce Housing dollars and because they started with the framework of the original building, not all-new construction.
As of June 9, Hoppe said 14 of the units were already leased and he expected the rest of them to be filled by the end of June.
Jacob Jennings, community affairs director for the SCCDP, said the apartments are a good fit for Milford.
“First Street Flats makes a lot of sense. It’s in a great location right there by the elementary school and across from the high school,” Jennings said.
Kelley said the apartments fill a gap in the community the city has been working to fill for quite some time.
“Once we got Timber Creek (subdivision) going and established on its path, we knew that rental property was a space we needed to heavily focus on,” Kelley said. “I think this does that. Certainly, we know we will have additional needs in that space.”
The apartments also will benefit Southeast Community College.
“SCC is projecting over 1,000 students in Milford this fall,” Jennings said. “They struggled last year finding a place for all their students.”
Kelley said First Street Flats will help integrate college students into the community and hopefully get them thinking about living in Milford after graduation.
“We’re trying to get the kids to come off of campus and get into the heart of Milford and explore a little bit more,” he said. “We think about them as we make steps and try to improve our community.”
Hoppe said the type of housing – apartments – mattered for this project.
“New housing is usually single-family residential, which is unaffordable for folks and doesn’t necessarily meet what people need if they’re transitioning into a full house or downsizing,” he said.
The apartments are all on the ground floor, making them accessible for people with limited mobility.
Kelley said the city felt Hoppe’s business model was what the city needed in a developer.
“They were going to manage it and own it, and it wasn’t just going to be a flip for them. That was important to us,” he said.
Leasing information for First Street Flats is available at primesitesrealestate.com.
