With Pilot Approval, Plans for Pine Bluff Village Move Foward

March 6, 2013 - PRLog -- The Wicomico Council's Tuesday night approval to continue a PILOT agreement for Pine Bluff Village in Salisbury will enable Tryko Partners, to move forward with the purchase of the state-owned land on which the complex is built, preserve its 150 rental units as senior/disabled affordable housing, and plan an extensive capital improvement program for the community.
Pine Bluff Village, which opened in 1979, is designated as an independent-living community for adults 62 years of age or older. Tryko Partners, which specializes in affordable housing ownership and management, purchased the complex last summer. At that time, the Wicomico Council approved the transfer of an existing PILOT agreement (continuing a lessee-operator agreement with the State dating back to 1977). Simultaneously, Tryko Partners entered into a one-year HAP contract with The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), extending Pine Bluff Village's status as senior/disabled affordable housing.

"Pine Bluff Village arguably is the nicest affordable senior housing in the State of Maryland, which is why the property attracted us in the first place," said Mark Gold, Tryko's vice president of operations. "From the outset, we have been committed to preserving this status - by continuing to provide a vital housing option for an underserved niche, and upholding the environment that has been a key to its success for more than three decades."

Now, Tryko Partners is in negotiations for a purchase agreement for the land on which Pine Bluff Village is built. That sale will nullify the existing PILOT agreement. However, the new, similar PILOT terms preserve the payment-in-lieu tax benefits for Tryko while locking the firm into preserving the community's senior/disabled affordable status for the duration of the 25-year agreement. Gold noted that this, in turn, will enable Tryko to invest significant capital in renovations to upgrade and modernize the property, and enhance the services provided there.

Located at 1514 Riverside Drive, overlooking the Wicomico River, Pine Bluff Village includes one-bedroom apartments with kitchens. Residents benefit from a commercial kitchen that has served lunch and dinner, an onsite beauty/barber shop, laundry facilities, an exercise room, and meticulously landscaped grounds with a picnic and patio area.

Prior to acquiring Pine Bluff Village, Tryko Partners entered the Salisbury multifamily market with the purchase of Pemberton Manor in late 2011. The firm last fall completed a $1 million renovation at that 209-unit property, which includes both market-rate and HUD affordable housing residences. The improvements included extensive physical upgrades and enhanced outreach programs. Already, occupancy there has climbed from 90 to 96 percent.

Affordable Housing Finance recognized Tryko Partners among the nation's top 10 companies for completing both acquisitions and rehabilitations in its 2012 ranking. Established in 1989, the Brick, N.J., firm currently maintains a 5,800-unit residential portfolio. The organization invests in multifamily properties, healthcare facilities, and tax liens throughout the Northeast - including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Delaware - and the greater Chicago market in the Midwest.