Jackson Point Apartments seek new property manager

FAIRFIELD – A pair of apartment buildings in Fairfield intended for low-income and disabled people is going through a transition as both the main bank and property manager have withdrawn, leaving a three-member volunteer board to run the facility until they can find a new property manager.

Jackson Point Apartments consists of two buildings, each housing nine units, located at 802 W. Jackson Ave. The buildings opened in 2007, a project of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that involved what is now called Iowa Economic Development Authority.

The apartments were meant to replace the county home on 250th Street, a place for physically disabled people to live. County home residents were moved into the new Jackson Point Apartments when the county supervisors decided to privatize ResCare.

An organization called Jefferson County Progressive Housing Corporation was created to oversee the apartments, a private entity unrelated to Jefferson County the governmental entity.

To pay for the facility, the Iowa Finance Authority lent $870,000 to a partnership including the progressive housing corporation. Joining the project were the developer, Burns & Burns L.C., and investors, the largest of which was PNC Bank. Lee Dimmitt, one of the three board members of the progressive housing corporation along with Shawn Morrissey and Gina Edwards, said rental income from the apartments has not been enough to keep up with maintenance costs on a 20-year-old building, prompting PNC Bank to withdraw from the project last year.

The firm hired to manage the property, Keyway Management, followed in PNC Bank’s footsteps and announced its withdrawal as well, effective Oct. 31, 2025. This has left the progressive housing corporation as the sole entity left to mange the property and to be tasked with its 20-year-loan due in two years.

Dimmitt said Iowa Finance Authority could forgive the loan, and in the meantime, the progressive housing corporation must operate the facility according to HUD specifications. That means keeping it as low-income housing, and reserving about 40 percent of the units for people with special needs.

As of Dec. 1, six of the 18 units were vacant. Dimmitt said he believes all six of the empty units could be filled with only simple fixes necessary, and that would generate an additional $3,000 per month, since the monthly rent is $500. He stressed that the county does not contribute any money toward the maintenance of the apartments, and that rental income is its only source of revenue.

Though Dimmitt said he did not think $500 rent was sustainable, he said the progressive housing corporation has no plans to raise the rent in the immediate future. Board members are in talks with a firm from Mt. Pleasant who could take over as property manager, and they’re hopeful they can turn over that responsibility soon. Dimmitt said that his main concern is ensuring that the apartment’s residents can stay in their homes.

Morrissey said he joined the board because he has a family member with disabilities who once lived at Jackson Point Apartments, and he felt the organization was doing important work. He said that, when he joined as a board member a few years ago, the progressive housing corporation didn’t have many responsibilities, since Keyway took care of the day-to-day operations.

“We’re volunteer appointees who don’t know the ins and outs of handling rent or paying for upkeep,” he said. “We’re handling things until a new property manager comes, and we’re hoping it can continue as it has for the future, serving people with those needs in the community.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com