Residents in 'heart' of Walnut Hills worry about the future

It's the 'heart' of Walnut Hills.

But will the residents who call it home soon be asked to leave?

Only time — and a judge's order — will tell.

HISTORIC BUILDING IN WALNUTHILLS A GROUP OF SENIORCITIZENS ARE ON THE VERGE OFLOSING THEIR HOMES.THE ALEXANDRA APARTMENTCOMPLEX HAS SERVED AS ANEIGHBORHOOD LANDMARK FOR MORETHAN 100 YEARS...AND 16 YEARSAGO IT WAS UPGRADED AND BILLEDAS LOW INCOME HOUSING FORSENIOR CITITZENS.REPORTERMONIQUE JOHN EXPLAINS WHATHAPPENED AND THE NEW FIGHTRESIDENTS ARE GEARING UP FOR.Driving along Gilbert Avenueor Taft Street in WalnutHills, it is almost impossibleto miss the formidable,majestic Alexandra Apartmentscomplex."It was one of the mostconvenient buildings that Ican live in.

We have a lot ofthings around and it's goodfor me because of mydisability."George Smith, likea number of his fellow tenantsat the Alexandra have beenliving in the building formany years.

The building wasrenovated and reopened as alow-income senior livingfacility back in 2004.

But nowthe building is up for sale,meaning its vulnerableresidents could be forced toleave."It's frustrating because as aresident, I don't know if I'vegot to get ready to move ornot."The shakeup came when theowner of the property which iscontrolled by the MillerValentine Group failed torefinance the building lastDecember.

The note on thebuilding was then sold to anout-of-state lender calledFairview Loans who thendecided to foreclose,prompting the Alexandra to beput up for sale.Residentscurrently have another threeyears to live in the building.But they are waging a legalbattle so that the new owneris required to honor the full30-year commitment in theAlexandra's contract as asenior living facility.

Thatwould mean residents would getto stay for another THIRTEENyears, not just three.

Incourt, residents argue thebuilding must be keptaffordable because of its taxcredits from the InternalRevenue Code.Tenants also saythat the building is fullyoccupied and that they havebeen paying their rent, sothere was no reason for theowner not to finance"The low income userestriction is good for 30years, tenants have a right toenforce it.

And the only waythat the ownership can get outof it is if there's alegitimate foreclosure, and weintend to show that theforeclosure is not legitimate."Smith says he's optimisticbecause the judge is on theirside and the tenants havestrong support in thecommunity.

Still, he and hisfellow residents are worried;many of them don't know whereelse to go.

It's alsouncertain when the court willmake its decision aboutwhether residents can stay forthe Alexandra's fullaffordable housing timecommitment."We need to fight for peoplethat are low-income.

We needmore buildings for low-incomepeople because they arepeople, too.

And with thiscrisis going on, we don't needpeople that are siting outhere in the street gettingsick."Walnut Hills.

MoniqueJohn.

WCPO 9 News.