City Approves Bond Request For Rolling Hills Renovation Plan

The future of the troubled Rolling Hills Apartment complex in Winston-Salem was up for debate Monday night. City Council members voted to approve up to $7.8 million in bonds to help a new company finance renovations.

Rolling Hills is home to many low-income families. The current owner, New Jersey-based Aspen Companies, has been criticized in recent months for a litany of issues: everything from mold, to sewage backup, to bug infestations.

City officials are now working with a new company that would purchase and renovate the building. They say Colorado-based Steele Properties LLC is planning to invest around $40,000 in each unit, if it receives the housing revenue bonds it's requesting for the project.

Winston-Salem city manager Lee Garrity says officials will monitor the progress closely.

“We've gone through the units with them and they will significantly improve them, much more than the minimal housing code [and] take them to a much higher level and they will do it unit by unit, so no one will have to leave the complex.”

Garrity says renovations are expected to start early next year.

He adds that city taxpayers won't foot the bill for the project. The housing revenue bonds will be issued through the state and backed by revenues from the apartments.

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