Condo Conversion Slated for Kansas City Apartments

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A south Kansas City apartment complex popular with successful singles in the 1970s is finding new life as an entry-level condominium development that welcomes young families.

Developer Mark Ledom is converting the former Mews A partments at Lydia Avenue and 97th Street into 270 condos, town houses and twin villas. Prices range from $79,900 for a one-bedroom condo to $124,900 for a three-bedroom villa with a two-car garage, and if that's not enticing enough, he'll throw in a subcompact car to seal the deal.

Monthly homeowner fees range from $100 for a one-bedroom condo to $150 for a three-bedroom, two-bath town house.

"I originally looked at it as an apartment complex to clean up and convert back to conventional rental property," Ledom said. "The more I looked at how beautiful the area was and the strength of the neighborhood, I thought it would be a beautiful opportunity for homeownership with a concentration toward first-time buyers."

The 382-unit Mews complex had fallen far from its heyday when Ledom learned last fall that Fannie Mae had foreclosed on the previous owner and was selling the property.

When it opened in 1970 and through much of the 1980s, it was a popular residence for professional athletes and other movers and shakers. The complex had already begun to deteriorate, Ledom said, when in 1994 it was sold to a Florida buyer who converted the apartments into 100 percent low-income housing.

"From there, the property went down," he said. "It was the black eye of the neighborhood."

Ledom declined to say how much his company, Diversified Asset Management, paid Fannie Mae, but the price was low enough to allow him to spend $8 million to completely renovate the 150 units in the first phase and offer buyers good value. The total value of the development is estimated at $30 million. His partners are Bill Miles and Royal Horlick.

The complex has been renamed Linden Woods ( www.lindenwoodskc.com), and includes a clubhouse, a resort-style swimming pool and a tennis court. A playground with the type of colorful plastic apparatus found at an elementary school is evidence, though, that this place is not just for singles.

Linden Woods also borders a wooded ravine and is near the Indian Creek Trail, a bicycling and walking path that stretches deep into Johnson County. Interstate 435 and U.S. 71 are relatively close by, and Ledom estimated that Ward Parkway Center was about 1� miles away.

"Our target market is first-time homebuyers, people looking for a maintenance-free lifestyle who like south Kansas City but want less responsibility," he said. "We want to make this a community."

Renovation work began last winter, and several model units are available for inspection. Ledom said the project had 50 reservations so far. Construction of the second phase, which will include 120 condos, will begin when 90 percent of phase one is sold.

As an incentive to buyers, the developer is offering $10,000 in the form of a a 2006 Suzuki Reno, or toward paying down debt, or purchasing furnishings from Best Buy and/or Crowley Furniture.

Chuck Loomis, president of the Linden Hills Neighborhood Association, said his group was pleased with the purchase and renovation of the aging complex.

"The neighborhood is 100 percent behind the project," he said. "We had 15 or 20 years of friction with the ownership of the low-income housing.

"We're happy with the progress that's been made and hope it goes to homeownership so people have an incentive to take care of that project."

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