Johnson County is struggling to meet the housing needs of its most financially vulnerable citizens.

According to a 2023 affordable housing report, the county has an estimated shortfall of 12,000 units for residents with incomes at or below 50 percent of the area median income.

Year after year, the board attempts to address the crisis by investing nearly $1 million in nonprofits like the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County, an organization established in 2004 to promote and support affordable housing initiatives.

The summer of 2024 marked a new strategy. For the first time, the county bought property of its own to ensure the rent would remain affordable, or no more than 30 percent of the household’s income.

The property is located at 1102 Hollywood Blvd., a 15-unit apartment complex.

Board of Supervisors Chair Jon Green said the property provided the board with a new angle from which to address the housing crisis.

“There has been an appetite to further address the affordable housing sites in Johnson County, and when this property came up, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to dip our toes in the water and see what actually doing a project like this would entail,” he said.

Supervisor Rod Sullivan explained what led the county to purchase the property on its own accord rather than handing it over to a nonprofit from the beginning.

“The more convoluted we were going to make it, the harder it would be to actually execute a deal,” he said. “And so we decided to just go ahead and buy it, and then we didn’t know exactly who we were going to be working with, and we still don’t.”

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Simon Andrew, the executive director of the Iowa City Housing Fellowship, applauded the county’s hands-on approach. He hopes more property will be put in the hands of nonprofits to address the crisis.

“Nonprofit ownership is always the best way to approach subsidized housing,” he said. “If the owner of the housing is a mission-driven organization whose goal is housing affordability, the restrictions on rent or incomes are less relevant.”

Since its $1.7 million purchase of the property, the county has spent $500,000 in repairs, including upgrades to the building’s heating and cooling systems, new water heaters, and electrical work. The county hopes to hand the building off to a willing entity that will keep rent affordable.

“This property will allow us to improve the lives of the families and individuals that live here, and we have ensured that the building is updated with safety and energy efficiency in mind for the life of the building,” board member V Fixmer-Oraiz wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan.

The total of $2.25 million has come from the general funds bonding, meaning the organization that ends up purchasing the property from the county would have to lease it for 1-2 years.

“The awardee will maintain affordability for the next 20 years, so that will be part of the agreement in accepting transfer of the property,” Community Services Manager Rachel Carr said. “They will be monitored annually by the county to ensure that the units are affordable for Johnson County residents.”

As of now, the only applicant to purchase the property has been the Iowa City Housing Authority. The building’s repairs are on track to be completed by April. The county plans to determine the future of the property in the next 4-6 weeks.

“I appreciate everyone’s patience,” Green said. “I think everybody is a little frustrated that the upgrades are taking as long as they have. At the same time, we need to move at this pace to ensure that we do it right and that we learn from this process in case we have an opportunity for something similar.”