CLINTON, Tenn. (WATE) — Renovation plans for the Daugherty Furniture Building in Clinton started five years ago. On Thursday, the fruits of the developers labor paid off as leasing is now available at the Daugherty Lofts, Clinton’s newest affordable housing apartment complex.
The five-story building houses nearly 40 units ranging from single-bedroom to three-bedroom apartments. The Daugherty Furniture Building was constructed between 1938 and 1942. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
Kent Leach, one of the developers of the project, told 6 News it was a long road to get here.
“If you know the story of the project, it started in 2020. We actually signed the contract on the building in 2020 and three months later COVID hit,” Leach explained. “I don’t think there’s another project in the state of Tennessee that has probably had as much adversity to overcome as this project. So, here we are five years later finally cutting the ribbon. It feels great and it really feels great for the City of Clinton.
The City of Clinton cut the ribbon declaring the Daugherty Lofts open. These new apartments are part of a revitalization project for the city.
“For the City of Clinton we are trying to revamp our historic downtown. To have 40 apartments downtown on Market and Main Street is just a blessing,” said Anderson County Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Rick Meredith. “To see the community support and have this entire lobby full of people that tells me that they get it. When you are trying to do something historic with a real old building, people say ‘aw, nobody can live there.’”
A great project, that according to those on hand Thursday starts with location, location, location.
“A lot of what people don’t understand about housing and low-income housing specifically, is there are a lot of barriers to housing,” Amanda Prackett said. “There’s a lot of barriers for people that are in low-income housing, one of those things being transportation. Being able to walk anywhere outside of your place of living is huge. It’s a huge impact for the community.
According to Rick Meredith, rent prices at Daugherty Lofts is comparable to those elsewhere in the county.
A one-bedroom apartment will run between $776 and $946. A two-bedroom apartment runs between $930 and $1,135, while a three bedroom apartment will cost between $1,073 and $1,309. There are income restrictions for those who live there.
“If you’re an individual you can’t make much more than $38,000,” Leach said. “A family of five could move in here as long as they make under maybe $60,000.”
One lucky person will be leasing an apartment that still has the original vault from when the building was first opened. At this time the vault is being used as laundry room/pantry and all of the locking mechanisms have been removed to prevent someone from getting locked inside the room.
We are told, roughly one third of the apartments are currently occupied. There is an application fee of $25 for anyone that wants to try and lease one of the apartments.
