Belfonti Associates, through subsidiary RCM Cincinnati Estates LLC, sold the vacant, 1,200-unit Huntington Meadows Apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The value of the transaction was $10 million.
Allen Temple-Tryed Stone Development Ltd. purchased the property, located at 1931 Langdon Farm Road.
The original intent of RCM Cincinnati Estates was to totally renovate approximately 600 vacant apartment units, turn them into market-rate housing, and then demolish the other 600 vacant units to make way for single-family homes. The City of Cincinnati initially supported Belfonti’s plan but changed course after several community groups adamantly opposed any plan except one that would replace all of the apartment buildings with single-family homes. The redevelopment, called The Villages of Daybreak, is led by the two largest African-American churches in Bond Hill: Allen Temple AME and Tryed Stone Missionary Baptist Church.
The property at one time was owned by real estate magnate Donald Trump. Trump wrote about the property, then called Swifton Commons, in his first book, “The Art of the Deal,” in a chapter entitled, “The Cincinnati Kid: Prudence Pays.” Originally built in 1953, the apartment complex changed hands many times, and other owners were plagued by consistently high vacancy rates, environmental problems, and, eventually, bankruptcy and foreclosure. Belfonti and Trump were the only developers to ever make a profit on the property, according to a press statement.
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