Learn More<\/a><\/p>\nWabash Estates Co-op was developed by CSI Support and Development Services in response to the tremendous need for safe, quality, affordable senior housing in the Grove Park\/Arlington neighborhood of Baltimore, Md. The project, consisting of 57 units, was funded with a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 202 Capital Advance, a HUD predevelopment grant and a three-year Project Rental Assistance Contract.<\/p>\n
The Baltimore development team consisted of general contractor Southway Builders Inc., architect Hord, Coplan & Macht and civil engineers Colbert, Matz & Rosenfelt.<\/p>\n
The demand was so high for senior housing in the area that more than 400 people applied for units and the entire project was leased up within five hours of opening in 2014. Wabash Estates has been 100 percent occupied ever since and has a very large waiting list. The neighborhood proved an ideal location with readily available transportation and full-service shopping including a grocery and pharmacy within walking distance.<\/p>\n
The project was developed on excess land owned by the Chizuk Amuno Congregation’s Arlington Cemetery, so careful attention was paid to maintain the park-like setting and compliment the cemetery’s adjacent forested grounds. There are numerous outdoor spaces and exterior seating areas that are used for privacy or recreational opportunities.<\/p>\n
In order to blend with the aesthetics of the existing structures in the Grove Park\/Arlington neighborhood, the building’s fa\u00e7ade is a combination of brick and cementitious siding with high-quality windows. Projected bays on the fa\u00e7ade break down the mass and scale of the building to give character and to reflect the scale of the neighborhood. Neutral colors were selected to minimize the impact of the building on the community.<\/p>\n
Internally, Wabash Estates was designed to facilitate the social services needs of residents as they age in place. There is a large service coordinator office, community kitchen and community room with an outdoor patio. The structure is full of energy-efficient features.<\/p>\n
The major challenges in developing Wabash Estates were site-related. It was important to the neighborhood and adjacent properties that CSI maintain a large amount of mature trees on site. That, coupled with stringent stormwater and city engineering requirements, posed significant challenges that required creative design and engineering from the development team.<\/p>\n
Wabash Estates was developed on unused land in the Arlington Cemetery. During site excavation there were rumors swirling in the neighborhood that the development team “was digging up graves.” Upon hearing of these rumors, CSI immediately met with neighbors to allay their fears.<\/p>\n
The project’s site plan required revision when a traffic study concluded a four-way stoplight at the entrance was needed and city planners required a new water vault and hydrant. Another site issue arose when excavation began to tap into the existing main water lines. The main water and sewer\/sanitary lines were not located as shown on the city’s historical documents.<\/p>\n
Since Wabash Estates is a cooperative, more than a year before it opened seniors on the interested persons list met monthly to learn about the co-op governing process and make decisions such as color schemes, common area d\u00e9cor and the name. This helped create a sense of ownership before the first resident moved in.<\/p>\n
The community maintains 10 committees—including leasing, maintenance and finance—solely compromised of volunteers, has an elected council that is responsible for the daily management decisions and invites residents to run for CSI’s national board of directors. Additionally, there is a sundry shop, community network computer center and library. There is also a service coordinator to assist residents in accessing needed community-based services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Vanguard Awards: Demonstrate that exceptional new affordable housing is available across the country; Demonstrate that the affordable multifamily industry is and must be creative and innovative if such exceptional properties are to be built given the financial and other challenges to development; Highlight results of the private-public partnerships required to develop today’s affordable housing;… <\/p>\n
Read More <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30580,"featured_media":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-csi-support-development","category-special-awards"],"metadata":{"_pingme":["1"],"_thumbnail_id":["3"],"_yoast_wpseo_metakeywords":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["2016 NAHMA\u2019s Vanguard Award for a Small Property \u2014 Wabash Estates - CSI Support & Development - CSI Corporate Website Blog"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["The Vanguard Awards: Demonstrate that exceptional new affordable housing is available across the country; Demonstrate that the affordable multifamily industry is and must be creative and innovative if such exceptional properties are to be built given the financial and other challenges to development; Highlight results of the private-public partnerships required to develop today\u2019s affordable housing;\u2026 Read More"]},"yoast_head":"\n
