Family Values

An example is Walton Ridenour, a tax-credit property near the Kennesaw Civil War battlefield park. Opened in 2005, the community consists of 261 apartments serving seniors, families, and single parents. The company will also begin construction soon on a small shopping center near the front entrance of the property.

Upon entering the community, you’ll see an expansive community center and a large adjoining saltwater swimming pool with a fountain that kids particularly love. The center, whose entrance opens to gleaming hardwood floors and a greatroom with fireplace, houses the offices of the property manager and his three-person administrative staff. But there’s also plenty more here for resident use, including meeting rooms, fully equipped fitness center, and a library with books, movies, computers, copier, and fax machine. Not the kind of facilities you would expect to see in a community where 90 percent of the units are earmarked for residents whose incomes are no more than 60 percent of the area’s median.

If that’s not enough to make resident proud of their surroundings, consider the 3,000-square-foot “Adventure Center,” located in one of the garden-style apartment buildings at the center of the development. The facility contains several classrooms and a kitchen, decorated in a “small town” theme and bearing names like “Town Hall” and “Café de Ridenour.” It’s fully equipped with computers, books, games, TV, and reading loft—plus a separate activity/game room for teens. Across the street is a fenced playground. “We probably spend triple what most developers do on playground equipment,” notes Ben Teague, the property manager at Ridenour.

To staff the Adventure Center’s programs, available at no charge to residents, Walton partners with the nonprofit Atlanta Youth Project. “We see this as an enrichment center, not a day care center,” says Pat Newman, Walton’s human resources manager. The center serves 70 children in grades K through 5 from the time the bus drops them off after school until 6 p.m., giving working parents time to get home from their jobs. Needless to say, there’s a waiting list for this after-school program, which has become a fixture at all of Walton’s new tax-credit communities.

Adjoining the Adventure Center is the “Legacy Center,” a facility targeted to yet another segment of Walton’s residents—seniors. With kitchen, lounge areas, TV, and game tables, the center brings older residents together for cards, potluck suppers, and other events. Quite a few seniors also volunteer with the children’s programs. “We love being near the kids,” says Robert Spiegel, a retired Xerox engineer who moved to the community from a single-family home in Rochester, N.Y. “I read to first graders once a week, and out on the property, I’m always hearing them yell, ‘Hello, Mr. Spiegel.’”

FAMILY FOCUS: Walton’s investment in children’s programs includes top-notch playgrounds, school partnerships, and monthly outings to cultural events. The Walton Ridenour apartments, sited on tree-lined streets, feature Craftsman-style architecture, with a blend of earth-tone vinyl siding, brick, and stone. “We don’t cut corners on construction,” says Mark Stovall of Walton Construction Services, which also builds residential units and commercial structures for other developer. “For example, we’ll use 35-year architectural roof shingles because we know we are going to be maintaining these units for a long time.”

A 1,120-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath unit offers plenty of family-friendly features, such as a laundry room, and a large kitchen. Nine-foot ceilings add to the sense of spaciousness, yet typical energy bills in these all-electric apartments run less than $100 for a two-bedroom unit, thanks to heat pumps, premium insulation, EnergyStar appliances and low-E glass. If you are a family that qualifies under the tax-credit program, this unit will rent for about $850 a month.

AFFORDABLE STRATEGIES Offering such extraordinary value and resident services would not be possible without careful development, management, and financial strategies.

Finding reasonably-priced land near schools and transportation is especially crucial, notes David Knight, the Walton principal who focuses on development. “When you are looking to build affordable apartments, you will usually encounter community opposition,” says Knight. “So we like to be ahead of the curve by choosing an area that is still on the verge of being redeveloped.”

Case in point: Walton Village, just opening in Marietta. When completed, the 26-acre planned unit development will consist of 208 apartments for families—most of them qualifying for lower rents under the tax credit program—plus a 125-unit apartment complex for seniors and 60 for-sale homes.