Lorington Apartments

Since 1985 residents of the Lorington Apartments benefited from the federal project-based Section 8 program, which kept their apartments affordable by limiting rent payments to 30 percent of each household's income. With the Section 8 contract expiration date approaching, tenants learned that the owner had plans to convert the building to condominiums, a move that would have resulted in the loss of 54 affordable rental units. Instead, the local Neighborhood Association helped tenants form an association and brought together public, private and nonprofit partners to find a new buyer. After a 2-1/2 year organizing campaign the Community Builders, Inc., a national nonprofit developer and manager of affordable housing, agreed to purchase the building, substantially rehabilitate the units and renew the Section 8 contract, ensuring the units remain affordable through 2027.