Fearing High Rents, Many Mansions Pulls Out of Island Village Deal

The Many Mansions housing agency has rejected a proposed partnership with a company buying the dilapidated Island Village Apartments, citing fears that the project will be too expensive for low-income tenants.

“Our goal was to make sure the cash flow from the project goes back into the project,” said Daniel Hardy, the agency’s executive director. “That was incompatible with the buyer. They wanted the cash flow for themselves.”

RHC Communities of Newport Beach is in escrow to acquire the 80-unit complex at 1381 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. from the Ventura-based partnership Trojan Island Village and make extensive renovations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This really fits our appetite,” said David Rose, chief executive of RHC Communities, which owns and operates affordable-housing projects across the state.

City housing officials, however, also fear a for-profit owner would increase rents, forcing many tenants out. Rents already are too high, said Olav Hassel, the city’s housing manager.

“The vast majority of people who live in that complex are low-income,” Hassel said. “But the current rents are not affordable to people at that [income] level.”

Many Mansions, a nonprofit organization based in Thousand Oaks that assists low-income people in finding housing, itself hoped to buy the complex but lost out in the bidding to RHC. The organization planned to set monthly rents as low as $520 for a one-bedroom apartment, Hardy said.

Rents at Island Village currently begin at $600, according to Charles Wade, manager for the complex’s owners.

“We don’t want to have to displace the tenants in the building,” Hardy said. “We want to make sure that any developer that takes this property is going to invest in this property and maintain it to a decent standard.”

Jim Fowler, a 76-year-old tenant, said he was hoping Many Mansions would purchase the property because he fears a developer will increase his $645-per-month rent.

The agency “would be more in line with what people want and need,” he said. “They care for people.”

Fowler, a retired Los Angeles firefighter on a fixed income, said he hopes the new owners renovate the complex.

“It’s a dump,” he said.

Island Village, built in the early 1960s, is one of the oldest complexes in the city. It needs new carports, earthquake-resistant walls, upgraded heating and ventilation and plumbing, Hassel said.

“There’s a tremendous amount of deferred maintenance,” he said.

After losing the bidding for the complex, Many Mansions considered a partnership offer from RHC under which it would take about 8% of the revenues as a fee to manage the complex, Hardy said. But the two could not agree on rents, Hardy said.

Rose of RHC Communities said he was surprised by the agency’s rejection of its partnership offer but plans to complete the purchase by early next year anyway. Another nonprofit housing agency will run the complex, he said.

One reason the developer wanted to work with Many Mansions is because the Thousand Oaks City Council set aside $2.2 million earlier this year for the organization to use in the purchase and renovation of affordable housing complexes in the city.

“The city trusts us,” Hardy said. “They know Many Mansions has the experience to get the job done.”

Should RHC complete its purchase, Hardy said, Many Mansions would use the city’s $2.2 million to renovate other Thousand Oaks apartment complexes, such as Park Terrace Apartments on Erbes Road or the Sharma Apartments on Warwick Avenue.

Rose said he has not determined what rents would be and would not discuss his plan for the complex in detail. He said rents would meet state guidelines for low-income housing.