30 November 2007
Butcher Block
From the Arlington Star, 1980:
Majority of Arlington's Buckingham Sold to Condominium Developer
By Carolyn Springs, Staff Writer
BUCKINGHAM- Most of one of Northern Virginia's oldest and largest community in Arlington has been put on the block and sold to a Windy City real estate developer who specializes in condominium conversions.
The sale was announced in a terse announcement Monday. Chicago's Weinstein Real Estate Holding is now landlord to nearly 80% of the 1,800 rental units in the Buckingham complex. The price was reported to be $60 million, representing an estimated profit of nearly $12 million dollars to the Columbus-based Kinghoffer Corporation, which purchased the properties two years ago.
Community activists and local official expressed concern that the sale of the complex to Weinstein could mean the eventual loss of 10 percent of Arlington's rapidly dwindling stock of moderate-cost housing.
The county already has lost about a quarter of its rental units in recent years to condominium conversion and gentrification.
In the last two years the Chicago-based firm headed by Richard Weinstein has bought two other Kinghoffer properties, including the Hyde Park and Big Pink Apartments, also in Arlington, which have already been converted to condominiums.
Arlington's tenant-landlord coordinator is concerned. In an exclusive interview with the Star, Stan Looney said "Buckingham is the largest garden apartment in the County and provides a substantial amount of low- and-moderate-cost housing for elderly and families. If all the units were lost to conversion this would have a serious impact."
Weinstein would not return repeated phone calls for comment. County Manger Vernal Dodge said the developer had agreed to meet with county officials before announcing his plans for the 42-year-old sprawling red brick complex centered around the intersection of Glebe Road and Pershing Drive.
Rents for one-bedroom apartments at the complex, located a mile from the Ballston Metro station, start at $310 a month.
"We feel very strong that whatever Weinstein does should minimize displacement of current tenants," said Susan Nguyen Tho, president of the Buckingham Vietnamese Cultural Association. "But with Metro coming out here the feeling is that anybody without money is no longer welcome in this county. I have seen many of our people looking for new places in eastern Fairfax County.”
In the past several years Arlington has lost approximately a quarter of its moderate-cost garden apartments, nearly 8.000 in all, to condominium conversions.
Pressure to redevelop areas around Metro stations has been particularly intense recently, largely because of the great demand for office developments and housing close to Washington.
Sources speculated yesterday that the Kinghoffer Co., whose officials likewise were unavailable, withheld from sale a cluster of 400 apartment units and the nearby Buckingham shopping center because the firm plans to build office buildings on that site.
Rumors of condominium conversion have circulated periodically at the complex since 1978, when Columbus developer Kames “Buckeye” Kinghoffer spent $48 million to purchase Buckingham from the Paragon Communities, founded by industrialist Allie S. Freed.
“I think that Buckeye skimmed the easy profits off Buckingham,” said Tho, a frequent critic. “The Hyde Park and Big Pink sold out pretty quickly, particularly the efficiency units, which were starting at $33,000. The Oaks sold slowly, due to the interest rates. Even with the low 12.8 % interest rates he was able to arrange, the garden units did not move fast enough for his cash-flow requirements.”
Tenant rights activists have said that Kinghoffer has spent minimal amounts of money on maintenance, with some work deferred for as much as eighteen months. The once neatly-landscaped neighborhoods are flowerless and the shrubs are ragged.
“Buckeye had no commitment to the neighborhood,” said Tho. “He was just here to take it apart. I don't have much hope for the new owners. They are just going to pick over the scraps.”
Copyright 2007 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
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