Cook County EDC | 56 - unit apartment community to open by June 2017

56 - unit apartment community to open by June 2017

By: Charles Shiver

The Adel-Cook County Chamber of Commerce and City of Adel hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday morning, Aug. 25, 2016, for Bear Creek Village, a 56- unit affordable housing apartment community to open by next summer in Adel.

Heavy equipment continued to roar busily in preparing the site off of East James Street as Chamber President/CEO Jerry Connell and Adel Mayor Buddy Duke welcomed the crowd for the groundbreaking.

Bear Creek Village will mean “56 front doors and 150 to 200 residents with somewhere decent to live,” Mayor Duke said. He commended the project’s developer/owner Mark Karras and his wife Patti for tying their success to that of Cook County. “We look for this to be a long-lasting relationship,” Duke said.

Karras expressed appreciation to City of Adel officials, the Chamber, and other community leaders for being so supportive of the project. “We’re excited about being able to provide affordable housing for local working families,” he said. “Cities like Adel need this type of housing.” He plans to develop several other similar projects in communities like Adel.

He anticipates that the apartment units will be completed and ready for occupancy by June 2017. Great Southern Contractors of Valdosta, an experienced tax credit contractor, is working on the project.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has awarded federal housing tax credits for Bear Creek Village. Karras has joined Regions Bank and NS State Tax Credit Fund, LLC, as limited partners in the project. Regions Bank and NS State Tax Credit Fund are selling federal and state housing tax credits, respectively, to finance the project. Karras said approval for housing tax credits is a very competitive process and he has been working to bring the Bear Creek Village project to life for three to four years.

Bear Creek Village will have two-story walk-up, garden-style apartment units. The apartments will consist of eight one-bedroom units, 32 two bedroom units, and 16 three bedroom units. The apartment community will have a club house and laundry facilities. The club house will have an office and a community room with a small kitchen as well as a computer center. The apartment community will have a covered outdoor area.

Bear Creek Village will offer covered pavilions for cookouts and gazebos. It also will have a playground featuring nice equipment for the kids. Bear Creek Village should begin taking applications for residents around next February.

Karras was raised in Nashville and graduated from Berrien County High School in 1978. He received his BS degree from Auburn University in 1984. He also received an MBA from Valdosta State University in 1986 and a BBA in Accounting from Valdosta State University in 1995. Karras is the owner of KM Ventures LLC, a property development company involved in the development of affordable multi-family housing communities in Georgia. Karras is an owner and developer of numerous affordable multi-family housing communities in rural areas in Georgia. He said he is an owner and general partner for 12 other properties in small communities.

Karras was president of a local property management and development company for more than 15 years. He has more than 20 years experience in the design, development, construction, and management of conventional and affordable apartment communities in Georgia and Florida. He is past president and board member for the Georgia Council For Rural Housing and Development.

Karras has been married to his wife, Patti, for 28 years, and they have lived in Valdosta since 1985. They have two children, Maggie and Carter, who both graduated from Auburn University. Mark and his family are active members of First Baptist Church of Valdosta. (Maggie, a certified social worker, is currently the Homeless Liaison of Valdosta City Schools.)