Press Release

Contact: Ed Thiebe, Executive Director
Phone: (727) 873-8731

September 10, 2019

RE: Expansion of Community Service Foundation, Inc. services in Pinellas County through the acquisition of 39 properties, primarily in low income neighborhoods of St. Petersburg. Named the K-2 Project.

TOPIC: To be a welcoming community for everyone, Pinellas County needs to preserve and sustain affordable housing for everyone. Housing remains a challenge for low-income households whom compete for an insufficient number of affordable rental units. According to Pinellas County’s 2016-2020 consolidated plan, housing cost burden, or affordability, is the greatest need in Pinellas County. The K-2 Project will take steps to increase the overall supply of affordable housing units.

Community Service Foundation Inc. As a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, the Community Service Foundation, Inc. (CSF) has been providing housing services to the public to help low-to-moderate income families and individuals locate, secure and maintain permanent decent affordable housing since 1979. In 1984, CSF began providing an Affordable Rental Housing Program with the purchase of its first affordable rental property. In the ensuring years, this program has grown until now we own and/or manage 125 affordable rental units in Pinellas County.

At CSF, we always search for new, more impactful ways to deploy our philanthropic resources and leverage others for the benefit of our community. The K-2 Project partners include the Klimberg Family, Fensalir Real Estate Services, Inc.; Binger Financial Services, and the Florida Community Loan Fund.

Profiles:

K2 Holdings LLC, a privately held residential property investor, has assembled a portfolio of affordable housing properties in South St Petersburg and Pinellas County over the past 8 years. K2 has operated as a high quality, ethically based provider of affordable housing, and is proud to transfer ownership of its properties to the Community Service Foundation, a dedicated, non-profit entity, whose mission is focused on the provision of affordable housing in Pinellas County.

Fensalir Real Estate Services, Inc. Fensalir Real Estate is a local real estate investment firm headquartered in Tampa, Florida, founded by four Tampa natives in 2016. Fensalir’s primary mission is to identify and procure real property with the potential to operate at above-market capitalization rates using a total return strategy.

In execution of this mission, assets and monetization are based on the following four drivers (a) acquisition price (b) strategic asset rehabilitation and upgrades (c) tenant improvement and (d) standardization and control over property and tenant management. Additionally, Fensalir is built to capitalize on alternative markets for growth, including select brokerage and management opportunities. Fensalir currently owns and manages a portfolio of residential and commercial real estate investment properties estimated at a value of nearly $15 million.

Binger Financial Services LLC. Since 1989, Binger Financial Services (BFS) has been providing quality service and unwavering commitment to our clients and community. The firm is an independent insurance and lending intermediary that through its partners provides a variety of insurance and lending products to corporate, public entity, institutional, trade, professional, association and individual clients.

Our culture is built on Honesty; Integrity; Respect; Excellence (HIRE). We use these principals whenever we are providing solutions to our clients. This unique culture has enabled us to adapt our products and services to best meet market demands and satisfy our many and varied clients.

Mr. Binger has been recognized by the Florida Business Hall of Fame for the ability to distinguish BFS when it comes to the contributions we make to our clients and the communities we serve.

Florida Community Loan Fund (FCLF) is a state-wide Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Established in 1994 as a 501(c)(3), we are a mission-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving low-income communities throughout Florida by delivering flexible financing and staff expertise.

Our lending provides various types of financing to meet the needs of non-profit organizations and mission-based for-profit organizations that develop affordable housing, supportive housing, community facilities, and economic development projects. This financing can include loans for new construction, preservation, rehab, acquisition, lines of credit, and/or longer-term permanent financing.

Our financing is made possible by FCLF’s strong track record of performance and partnership with investors. These investors include foundations, religious organizations, financial institutions, government entities, trade associations, corporations and individuals – all of which support FCLF’s mission in various ways. Their support includes permanent capital contributions, debt capital investments, equity equivalent investments, and general operating support contributions.

The Need:

For many low to moderate-income residents, their housing is a source of stress rather than respite. Thousands of working families are paying more than they can afford for housing and cutting back on necessities like nutritious food and health care as a result. Other low to moderate-income families respond to high housing costs by living in substandard housing, doubling up with family and friends, or moving frequently, all of which have negative impacts on their health, their children’s education, and the wider community. By contrast, an adequate supply of affordable housing helps families put down roots, stay healthy and get ahead.

Per the County’s 2016-2020 consolidated plan, the County has placed its highest priority on helping maintain affordable housing with housing rehabilitation. Data, consultation, and public input all reveal a need for affordable housing in Pinellas County. A 2012 Housing Market Study prepared for the Housing Finance Authority of Pinellas County shows that based on 2010 Census data, Pinellas County has a significant affordability issue with both ownership and rental housing.

Families paying more than 30% of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulties affording other necessities such as food, clothing, medical care and transportation.

Rent Eats First – before food, medicine, gasoline, and child care.
• In Pinellas County, 53% of households in Pinellas County live on the threshold of homelessness spending over 30% their monthly earnings for rent.
In attractive coastal communities like Pinellas County, both the strength of the tourism economy and the quality of life for middle-class residents depend on the hard work of low-paid employees, including waiters and waitresses, janitors, cashiers, groundskeepers, and nursing assistants. This means that working people, the helpers whom contribute to our quality of life, have more month than money; being a day late and a dollar short is their quality of life challenge.

Pinellas County isn’t paradise if you can’t afford housing. Do the math.

1. In Pinellas County, the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,014. In order to afford this, a minimum wage worker earning $8.05/hour must work 95 hours a week, year-round, or the household must include 2.4 minimum wage earners working year-round.

2. The 2017 Pinellas County Housing Wage is $20.68 per hour for a two-bedroom rental home, or more than 2.6 times higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. This means that a full-time worker earning the minimum wage needs to work 104 hours per week for all 52 weeks of the year to afford a two-bedroom rental home.

3. Community Service Foundation owns and/or manages 125 rental units, 100% occupied: the average cost for a two bedroom is $660 or nearly 50% below County FMR.

CONTACT INFORMATION

W. Greg Wilkerson – Co-Founder
Fensalir Real Estate Services, Inc.
215 W. Verne St. Suite. D
Tampa, Florida, 33606
813-235-5685

Roy Binger CEO
Catherine Schrader, President
Binger Financial Services LLC
146 Second Street N. Suite 310
St. Petersburg, Fl 33701
727-822-2719

Cindy Ross
Community Development Loan Officer
Florida Community Loan Fund
800 N. Magnolia Ave., Suite 106
Orlando, FL 32803
407-413-9507

Tamera Felton- Howard ESQ
5203 Central Ave.
St. Petersburg, FL 33710
727-202-8626

Properties

I. Real Property of Owner to be managed by Manager

A. St. Petersburg

1. 1111 45th St. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
2. 1201 James Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
3. 1217 21st Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
4. 1244 11th Ave S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
5. 1411 22nd Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
6. 1670 19th Ave S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
7. 1701 41st St. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
8. 1759 Scranton St. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
9. 2229 Kingston St. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
10. 2321 Queen St. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
11. 2538 16th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
12. 2567 16th Ave. S St. Petersburg, FL 33712
13. 2609 3rd Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
14. 2620 14th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
15. 2627 5th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
16. 2820 5th St. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
17. 2921 18th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
18. 2938 12th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
19. 3534 17th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
20. 4037 10th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
21. 4062 3rd Ave S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
22. 4221 13th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
23. 4339 16th Ave S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
24. 4345 16th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33711
25. 4920 4th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33707
26. 5569 5th Ave. N. St. Petersburg, FL 33710
27. 662 29th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
28. 711 36th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
29. 787 36th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705
30. 924 Melrose Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705

B. Clearwater, FL

1. 1405 N. Garden Ave. Clearwater, FL 33755
2. 1677 Tilley Ave. Clearwater, FL 33756
3. 825 Hall St. Clearwater, FL 33756
4. 400 Cincinnati Pkwy. Clearwater, FL 33765
5. 612 Woodlawn St. Clearwater, FL 33756
6. 907 Beckett St. Clearwater, FL 33755
7. 915 N. Garden Ave. Clearwater, FL 33755

C. Pinellas Park, FL

1. 5361 86th Ave. Pinellas Park, FL 33782

D. Port Richey, FL

1. 7301 Westcott Dr. Port Richey, FL 34668

E. Spring Hill, FL

1. 9440 Lakeview Ct. Spring, Hill, FL 34608