The Mutual Heights Communities

Quietness surrounds you when you step outside your apartment if you live in the Mutual Heights Communities in Durham, North Carolina, of even when you walk through this unique collection of three "neighborhoods." The neightborhoods are Stewart Heights, Stewart Square and Stewart Circle.

Now almost four years old, this rebuilt community rescued Durham's first affordable housing community from decline and decay Today, these neighborhoods demonstrate what new, innovativve, creative and enthusiastic thinking can accomplish. The project began in 2007 and was completed in 2009 in three phases.

The Mutual Heights Communities provide a potential national model that can be used to produce quality, affordable housing, with the amenities modern living demands. Efficient spaciness sets the tone in all of the two bedroom apartments throughout this somewhat sprawling complex. The front rooms feature two windows and a spaciousness that easily accomondates almost any decorating style. The kitchens complete a "front rectangle" of each apartment, with equipment--stove, refrigerator, etc. fitted efficiently into the space. The bathrooms are compact and efficient. Both bedrooms just make sense from the perspective of size and arrangement.

These apartments, from design to fixtures radiate thoughtful practicality. For example, there are two electrical outlets on each wall, making dangerous extension cords unnecesary. Both the tile floors in the kitchens and bathrooms, along with the hardwood floors in the other rooms require just a little effort to keep clean. Lighting is strategically placed. Each room has a telephone placement, along with cable ready outlets. It appears that the developers talked with residents before developing ideas into plans. For example, in a nod to the fact that maybe half or more of the residents of this complex are senior citizens, the hot water will not get hot enough to scald a person. The apartments include central heat and air, with eye-level digital thermostats that are easy to read and operate. A smoke detector completes the amenities in each room.

The complex includes 14 handicap accessible apartments that feature, among other amenities, roll-in showers, and a bar in the kitchen area rather than dining table space. All of the apartments include washer and dryer connections. Additionally, there's a fully equipped laundry facility on the property.

In a word, this is a great place to live.

While these apartments are new from studs to roof, being a great place to live in a half-century-old tradition for Mutual Heights. Just ask Cora Adams who has lived in this comple for about 30 years before she died earlier this year.

In an interview conducted soon after renovation work began, Ms. Adams said: "I like living in this area and have always liked it from the first day I moved out here," said Ms. Adams, 90. a retired Duke Hospital laboratory employee. Between the two apartments--my old one and my new one--I like this one better."

The differences extend beyond cosmetic changes.

The original apartments, built in 1950 and opened the next year, though small, somewhat cramped and modest, were, nevertheless, state of the art construction in the 1950s. This was particularly true if the major objective was to make the apartments affordable for individuals and families who could not afford luxury, even by the standards then. A gas space heater, for example, warmed the apartment, or at least the front room.

Summarizing the shortcomings of the original apartments, Ms. Adams explained: "They had no shower, no closet space and no cabinets," she said, "but it was still a good place to live, mostly because of the rent. It was also a solid community and we looked out for each other."

Mutual Heights, the development's original name, emerged as a dynamic atmosphere of change in Durham, in North Carolina, and throughout the South in the early 1950s, as African Americans, returning from fighting in World War II, for example, and getting their feet wet in other new and exciting experiences, aimed for higher expectations and the accompanying amenities.

Quality, affordable housing was a cornerstone objective.

Durham's initial foray into affordable housing began with a meeting of the board of directors of Clearview Housing Corporation on July 24 1950. The minutes of the meeting, dry and official, provide no "whys" and "wherefores," no glimpse into the visionary mindsets of the three men and a woman who became the officers of this new company. This group--W.E. Witt, Alastair Muirhead, Louise Cook and E.H. Copeland--President, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer, and Assistant Secretary/Treasurer respectively--met at 3pm that Monday and conducted the following business:

1. Agreed to bank with the local Fidelity Bank

2. Agreed to buy 14.8 acres of land at the corner of Cornwallis and Fayetteville roads for $14,000 to build a complex of apartments. The property's owner of record was Triangle Construction Company, of which Witt was the principal stockholder and president.

3. Agreed to accept a commitment for North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company to loan Clearview Housing Corporation $692,000 to build the apartment complex, with the loan guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration. This could have been one of the first business collaborations, in North Carolina and maybe throughout the South, between a white owned and a black owned company.

4. Agreed to include as stockholders and members of the board of directors Leif Valand who was to be the architect for the project; Allston Stokes and J.S. Stewart, the only African American on the board. At the time, Stewart was president of Mutual Savings & Loan, a local home financing company that worked exclusively with African Americans.

With the decisions made and the documents signed, the board ended its meeting at 4:30pm. Thus in 90 minutes, Mutual Heights, Durham's first affordable housing complex, was born. Slightly more than a year later, the apartment complex opened for business.

Fifty years later--in early 2001--time, wear and tear had taken its toll.

"We had to face reality," explained Jim Stewart the former owner and manager of Mutual Heights, who got his start there as a kid cutting grass on the complex during the summer. "We had patched all we could patch. We had held the line for as long as we could. We had to do some major renovations to remain competitive, but when we looked at the numbers, we realized we could not do the usual renovation and keep the apartments affordable."

Jim Stewart is J.S. (Shag) Stewart's son. The younger Stewart and his sisters inherited the propertyw when their father died. J.S. Stewart had bought the complex from the Clearview Housing Corporation during the 1970s.

Faced with the daunting challenge of renovating or closing the complex, Jim Stewart said he began asking around, searching for ideas and one of the persons he spoke with was was Jarvis Martin, owner of Martin and Company, a local real estate appraiser, investor and developer.

"When Jim spoke with me," Martin said, "I saw two things. One was the possibility of an exciting business venture and the other was an opportunity to protect, even enhance an investment we already had in the area."

Martin and a business partner, Jim Pou of Woodland Associates in Cary (NC), discussed the possibilities and decided that though renovating Mutual Heights would be an extremely challenging project, it was nevertheless exciting and potentially beneficial in more ways than one.

Thus Martin and Pou assembled a development and financing team that included the following "players:"

1. The City of Durham's Department of Housing and Economic Development.

2. The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.

3. The Federal Department of Hosing and Urban Development.
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4. The Charlotte office of the Richman Group.

5. The Paragon Bank in Raleigh (NC).

6. Woodland Contracting, LLC, the project's general contractor

7. Hale Architects in Apex (NC).

The team planned the project to be financed and executed in the following phases:

1. 64 apartments to be completely renovated in 2007. Now open and operating, this apartment neighborhood is known as Stewart Heights.

2. 63 apartments to be completely renovated in 2008. Now open and operating, this apartment neighborhood is known as Stewart Square.

3. 20 apartments to be completely renovated in 2009. Now open and operating, this apartment neighborhood is known as Stewart Circle.

The price tag would be more than $15 million.

It's a done deal! The complex has 100 percent occupancy, including me, and a long waiting list. As Ms. Adam said, this is a wonderful place to live. As I complete this article, i look out the window of my office at home at a well-kept lawn that I do not have to cut. As soon as I post this article, I will walk around the community, as one part of my daily exercise routine, enjoying the peace and quiet that prevails in these neighborhoods of the Mutual Heights Communities.