Finding Apartments in Joplin Still a Big Challenge Nearly a Year After May 22nd
By: Katie Love
Updated: May 8, 2012
Oak Meadows is one of the fourteen apartment complexes the May storm destroyed.
It should be fully open by the end of this week, but it's completely booked, making finding affordable housing that much harder for residents
Colby Mcehee is in a rare position.
He's a community manager for one of the very few apartments in Joplin rebuilt after the storm.
"It feels good to go back to some normalcy and being able to help people with housing," Colby Mcehee says."
While being back puts Mcehee in a place to help people find affordable, he's also turned many away.
"There's a huge need," Mcehee says. "We've probably taken in about 400 applications."
Only about half of those properties are rebuilding or have rebuilt
The May tornado wiped out nearly 90% of apartments in Joplin, several of those low-income housing.
"The lowest price we had recently on a rental was $645 and they were up to $1,400 and that's not standard to what they used to be," CEO Ozarks Gateway Association of Realtors says. "You used to be able to get an apartment between $300-600.".
Cox says the high cost it takes to get an apartment back up and running slows the rebuilding process down.
While those expenses mean higher rent for residents.
"There are really no places at all that can be affordable rentals and so it's not a real win win for rentals," Cox says.
Realtors hope the Master Developer coming to Joplin will help pave the way for more affordable housing.
Along with Oak Meadows, the Plaza Apartments and Redwood Tower Apartments will open in the next month.
