MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — For years, older residents in Mount Vernon who wanted to downsize had limited options close to home.

This summer, that will change with the opening of the Cottonwood Trails Senior Apartments—a new senior housing complex designed to help aging community members stay rooted in the town they call home.

The Cottonwood Trails Senior Apartments, a new senior housing complex developed by Community Housing Initiatives (CHI), is expected to open this summer. It will be the second senior-focused apartment complex in the city, aiming to meet the growing demand for affordable, age-friendly housing.

Community Housing Initiatives has taken the lead on making sure the Cottonwood Trails Senior Apartments, and others like it, are built and managed properly.

“We want to help Iowans age in place,” said Brittany Spieker, the chief innovation officer at CHI.

The organization is Iowa’s largest nonprofit affordable housing developer. It has been building, restoring, and managing properties across the state and now has about 2,000 units.

“What really sets us apart is that we do it all. We develop, we manage, we own, and then we also have a resident services
department,” said Spieker.

The project was approved on July 3, 2023, and was also granted funding for it. It received $675,000 in annual federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and another $1.1 million in state Hope and Opportunity in Many Environments (HOME) funds, which are given to communities to help them with a wide range of affordable housing initiatives.

The process is extremely competitive, and CHI was awarded one of the nine deals for the year.

Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch said that CHI was awarded an additional $395,000 in city funding.

“There’s $395,000 worth of Low to Moderate Income cash that goes into the project directly,” said Nosbisch.

In addition to building the complex, the city is extending 208 Glenn St. to accommodate the apartments. Although they are still under
construction, the Cottonwood Trails Senior Apartments have a layout for what they are anticipated to look like. In Marion, Iowa, CHI recently built another independent senior-focused apartment complex.

“This project is pretty much going to mirror Tulip Tree,” said Spieker.

The need for additional senior housing in Mount Vernon is clear. Currently, the city has only one assisted living community — Cherry Ridge and Hallmark Care Center.

According to the Iowa Data Center, about 975 residents are over age 55, and 445 are over 65.

This is one of the reasons CHI was determined to build these apartments.

“We get pitches for a lot of projects, but what we have to look for is ‘what does the community need?’ because we’re not going to build something the community doesn’t need,” said Spieker.

“They stuck with the city and this project for four and a half years before it received any funding, so I would highly encourage individuals to try and work with them if they can,” said Nosbisch.

The apartments will have 30 units, with 15 of them having a single bedroom and the other 15 having two bedrooms.

The one-bedroom units are expected to be $710 a month, and the two-bedroom apartments are expected to be $810. CHI also accepts Housing and Urban Development (HUD) vouchers. This means that if your HUD office was open and had available funding, CHI would accept that voucher, which could help subsidize rent.

This means that rent can be even cheaper. What’s interesting about Community Housing Initiatives is that they are all off- site. All staff are spread throughout Iowa, and no one is at the apartment themselves.

The job of the staff at CHI is to ensure tenants are comfortable and are given proper care.

“Let’s say they can’t keep their apartment clean. We can reach out to resources that we know in Cedar Rapids, and they can bring in their staff to maybe help them clean, or if they qualify, clean their apartment once a week or once a month, or just guide them on how to clean,” said Spieker.

Because of federal regulations, CHI can not start accepting until they are at most 120 days out from opening. If you are interested in applying to the Cottonwood Trails Apartments, contact Community Housing Initiative through their website to be put on the inquiry list.

Apartments at Cottonwood Trails will include a washer and dryer, central heat and air, a dishwasher, stove, and more.

“I went from a three-bedroom house, full basement, breezeway, garage, backyard, to a two-bedroom apartment, and I don’t feel
cramped. I feel like I got plenty of space,” said Tulip Tree resident Barb Dean.

Dean is 71 and has been staying at Tulip Tree for just under one year. She decided to move out after realizing her old house would need a lot of work, and it was time to downsize.

“I love the apartment,” said Dean. Residents are required to sign a one-year lease upon living in a CHI-owned property, but their average length of stay is about 60 months. “I won’t ever build anything that I would never put my grandparents in, and that’s just kind of how we roll,” said Spieker.