In 1930, it was founded as Epworth Methodist Church. Two years ago, the vacant building was purchased by the Qureshi Development Group for $445,000. The company is composed of three siblings who are medical professionals. Hera Qureshi says they grew up attending a mosque near the old church on North Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
“We talked to the city and told them our plans to kind of convert the church into 22 affordable housing apartments, and each apartment will be a single bedroom.”
Qureshi said their company received a total of approximately $2.5 million in city and federal funds to help cover the project costs.
Rick McQuady is the city’s affordable housing manager. He said the Qureshis did their homework.
“Their application indicated that they wanted to serve lower incomes if possible, and they've made inquiries with various organizations throughout the city that assist people in trying to find housing, and also that provide services, some supporting services that may or may not be needed by some of the residents,” he said.
Qureshi said some of those organizations are very near the church. She said the apartments will be managed by a property group and open to anyone, with rent prices determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Qureshi said she and her siblings want to give back to a city that has given them much.
“We grew up here in Lexington, born and raised. We went through the public school system. All three of us attended UK for college, and so we just honestly wanted to give back. We're interested in real estate, and we felt like this could kind of marry those two ideas,” she said.
Last year, the city released an 83-page affordable housing analysis, which identified a need for approximately 17,000 units. McQuady said the city is making good, steady progress towards filling that gap, and because the city council and mayor have dedicated 1 percent of the previous year’s general fund revenues to the effort – about $5 million a year.
“We normally average right now about $15,000 per unit. We provide gap financing for these developments. And really, I like to think of us as the last piece of the puzzle that makes these developments possible,” he said.
Qureshi said renovation of the church will begin in the next few weeks, and the apartments could be ready for move-ins next September.
