East Nashville's new mixed-income Cherry Oak Apartments offer fresh start to families

Cayce Place resident Alexis Jones sliced through a ceremonial ribbon Thursday, christening what will be her new home at the recently completed Cherry Oak Apartments in East Nashville.

Jones, 41, will soon move into a brand-new apartment in the 96-unit building with her 5-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son and 15-year-old niece.

She was raised in low-income housing in East Nashville by her mother, whom she credits for teaching her an important lesson: "It's not where you come from, it's how you live." Jones graduated high school early, studied to be a medical assistant and launched a 15-year career as a caregiver before returning to school to earn a bachelor's degree in health administration. In 2018, Jones' mother died, leaving her without a safety net when finances became tight. At age 36, she found herself homeless, living in a hotel while pregnant with her first child.

A former caregiving client took Jones and her daughter in. Weeks later, Jones was accepted into a unit in Cayce Place, where neighbors embraced her and her children, she said. Jones' family and 44 other Cayce Place households will move into Cherry Oak in April.

Located next to the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency headquarters, Cherry Oak is MDHA's sixth mixed-income property and the seventh building constructed under the Cayce Transformation plan (formerly known as Envision Cayce) to revitalize Nashville's largest subsidized housing property.

Of the 96 units:

• 45 are subsidized for current Cayce residents

• 8 are affordable

• 6 are workforce housing

• 37 are market rate

Affordability levels are locked in for at least 99 years.

Cherry Oak broke ground in May 2022. The four-story complex features a computer lounge, a community courtyard and a playground in the shade of a large cherrybark oak tree, for which the property is named. Units range from one to three bedrooms, each with a patio or balcony.

The complex looks out toward the Cumberland River and the downtown Nashville skyline, with the city's planned East Bank neighborhood located just across Interstate 24. Park Point East, the ninth construction project under the Cayce Transformation plan, broke ground directly behind Cherry Oak in December.

Cherry Oak's completion marks 603 finished Cayce Place units, 316 of which are set aside for Cayce Place residents. When construction on Park Point East is complete, it will add 203 units and 24 townhomes to Cayce Transformation's planned 2,390 total units.

The construction of Cherry Oak was funded by:

• A portion of $15 million from the American Rescue Plan allocated to Cayce Place by Metro

• $9 million in low income housing tax credits (Red Stone Equity Partners provided equity through syndication of the credits)

• $500,000 Tennessee Housing Trust Fund grant through the Tennessee Housing Development Agency

• Amazon contributed a $7.1 million low-interest loan to MDHA for the complex's construction as part of the company's $2 billion Amazon Housing Equity Fund

Elected officials from all levels of government attended Thursday's grand opening.

"There are many ways to measure a city's progress," Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said. "You can count visitors and residents, you can count economic impact, jobs, you can tally the number of new businesses that relocate and office buildings and concert venues. But for me the city's progress must be rooted in making sure that everyone who wants to pay us the extraordinary compliment of living here has the opportunity to do so."

U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-TN District 6, called the development "transformative for East Nashville" and said he is "committed to finding more ways to support more housing."

Tennessee Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, said the development's mixed-income makeup will be more reflective of the diversity of East Nashville and other parts of the city. She pointed out the development's proximity to the East Bank, noting Nashville's goal of creating a thriving, diverse, mixed-income neighborhood there.

Ginger Davis cheered from the crowd with her 5-year-old granddaughter Londyn Cockrill Thursday. They have moved four times in the last six years to various MDHA housing while waiting to move into the brand-new build. Davis said she just wants a stable home for Cockrill, who climbed on the new playground equipment as her grandmother watched.

"I was like, I can't keep moving with this baby. It's hard," Davis said. "(But) I got it, and I'm very happy. 2024 is going to be our year."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: East Nashville mixed-income Cherry Oak Apartments offer fresh start