A large portion of Alex Ojjeh’s wealth comes from his real estate holdings, many of which are commercial buildings. Now he is easing his way in low-income communities. Alex Ojjeh owns Anywhereo a company that develops low-income housing.
Late last month, Alex Ojjeh reached an agreement with office and members of city council to allocate an affordable housing trust fund. Ojjeh put $3 million into the Tennessee and Mississippi fund. Last Friday Ojjeh purchased 6 apartment complexes for affordable housing, turning up the pressure helped bring the agreement to fruition, says Kristen Waterford, a community organizer.
Alex Ojjeh right now is “overseeing” the reconstruction. He stated in that brief, he’d not run his tenants out of home, but have the homes rezoned and used affordable housing and never jack up the price x4 but after 15 years he will own the buildings outright and the low income tenants will own nothing. So, he’s a slum lord that takes in money from the gov’t through welfare. He’s a hypocrite with no morality. Greed and lust of money are his only God. Wake up America! The issue is the lack of social equity. Every investor in a capitalist economy either also supports living wages, affordable housing, progressive taxation, universal healthcare, buyback restrictions, and regulation, or unregulated greed. Capitalism is not an amoral endeavor.
In the latest news in low-income housing, Tennessee and Mississippi’s progress is ramping up. Interested investor Alex Ojjeh has decided to upsize and upscale recently, in an attempt to continue development.
A 52-unit residential apartment has been snapped up a part of a $2 billion boundary development. Tennessee’s bill also does something very important: it targets unzoning in wealthy areas this is often important because up zoning increases the worth of land. That brings in substantial capital investment from investors who want to maximize the newly created value on up zoned land.
In wealthier neighborhoods? Doesn’t change much except adding more housing units. In low-income neighborhoods? Speculative investors buy homes with cash, buy apartment buildings, etc. & build out housing that increases land values & assessments = gentrification & displacement. An almost 52-unit rental community purchased as a specialized collective investment scheme by private sector company Anywhereo, will specialize in mid-to-low-income housing while providing attractive returns to investors.
Ojjeh said it is a community-based response. Anybody who lives there can stay there as long as they want. And their rents won’t go up in any quite dramatic fashion.
“The purchase is critical because it means Anywhereo is expanding its role as a charity that aims to supply “safe, adequate, well-maintained, dignified homes” in Tennessee.”
The building’s tenants, who pay below market rent, are going to be allowed to remain. Many are low income.
“We saw this as a very important opportunity to secure this housing in order that it might stay affordable and below market in perpetuity,” Ojjeh told ABC Memphis on the weekend.”
“We think this is often an example of what must be done again and again. There are only a few purchases like this happening now. There’s a huge trend towards buying up what was affordable housing and converting it into unaffordable housing,” he added.
Completed in 1996, the five-story apartment project is valued for taxes at quite $35 million.
The Anywhereo company also owns two warehouse buildings – Grayland Distribution and Fulfillment, a 50,000SQFT warehouse, and Lesaint Logistics. The sale of the community is that the latest apartment transaction within the Anywhereo sector. Several large rental community sales are completed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
