
DATE: Saturday, November 29, 1997           TAG: 9711260409

SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY      PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MELISSA GUNDEL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  115 lines

FLAT LIVING: MILL CREEK APARTMENTS, CHESAPEAKE SUBURBUA MIXES WITH THE COUNTRY

There's a new heart of Deep Creek. About 10 years ago farms occupied the vast land in Chesapeake that is now home to new subdivisions off of Mill Creek Parkway - Mill Creek and Elmwood Landing.

Deep Creek even has an apartment complex. Mill Creek Apartments opened in October 1966.

But the apartments and the neighboring subdivisions aren't far from the roots of Deep Creek, long a rural area with a small-town atmosphere. A few blocks away is the area's main artery, George Washington Highway, or U.S. 17, with tributary streets such as Galberry Road and Old Mill Road, a long, windy lane with large older homes on land passed on from generation to generation.

At the corner of Route 17 and Cedar Road, there are two gas stations, an Eckerd drugstore, a couple of fast-food restaurants and a convenience store. Residents also have a favorite restaurant - Zeno's Pizza.

``I think what sells our apartments is that Deep Creek is in a rural area and we're not in the city,'' said Darlene Frain, resident manager. The location is accessible to the interstate (I-64) and if you want convenience, you do have your drugstores, a medical center, a church and the bank right here, she added.

The 120-unit brick, vinyl three-story complex is a tax credit property where the government provides housing for low-income tenants.

``You have to meet into certain income guidelines - they are very strict and very low. In exchange, the government gives the owners a tax break for offering it,'' said Frain. ``For example, for two people to live here, they have to make at least $15,500 but no more than $20,940 a year. However, the more people, the higher the income,'' she said.

The complex, which is owned by Ripley Wright Associates, also restricts full-time students.

``It's just one of the requirements that the government has set up,'' she said.

``Our community is really based on new families that are just starting out where they only have one source of income. Either the mother is staying home with children or we have the single parent with children or we also have retirees,'' she said. ``It's a real mixture.

``Our rent here is very reasonable for the market compared to the regular apartment complexes,'' she said.

It's also ideal for those who have just moved away from home and are out on their own for the first time.

Amanda Spratt, 19, and her husband Aaron, 20, were just recently married and moved to the complex this month.

``I love the area it's in. I feel really safe here. It's just really clean - just top quality. Everything is great,'' said Spratt.

``Out of all the apartments we looked at, this was by far the best. I liked the space of the apartment and it is well kept,'' she added.

The complex has only two- and three-bedroom apartments. Tenants pay $520 a month for two bedrooms; the three-bedroom goes for $600. The rent includes water.

All units have private balconies or porches and a maintenance shed. The kitchen features a frost-free refrigerator, garbage disposal, dishwasher and electric range. Sprinkler systems are in every room - even in closets. The two-bedroom unit has two baths. Both bedrooms have double door closets. The bath in the master bedroom has a sit-down shower stall while the other bath has a tub.

All first-floor apartments are handicapped accessible. The heater controls are lower and outlets are moved up so a handicapped individual would have easier access.

The facility also has two handicapped units. The kitchen sink is lower than usual without cabinets underneath. The bath has handicapped railings and a pull down shower with the fixtures on the outside of the tub.

The doors are larger, even with the closets so the tenant can enter easily. Halls are wider. The disabled live close to the pool and laundry facilities. Instead of a second bathroom, there is a large closet in the master bedroom.

Frain thinks the Mill Creek area will keep its appeal.

``The layout of the area is well constructed. We have a four-lane road going into the residential area. We have a medical center next to us, a bank and then we have the apartments,'' she said.

``As far as appeal I believe it's always going to be here because of the way it has been laid out. There's nothing else you can put up on this side. We're not going to get crunched in like a lot of areas you see especially around an apartment complex,'' she added.

``The area around us is being developed by a church or bank, not another apartment complex on top of apartment complex.''

She also feels that lower-income families aren't used to such a nice, well kept facility and features such as a swimming pool and weight room.

``We're trying to provide quality housing for individuals who are just starting out and need a stepping stone,'' said Frain.

``That's really what this property is all about,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]

JIM WALKER

Mill Creek in Chesapeake offers tenants the rural environment of

Deep Creek, an old, historic section of Hampton Roads.

The complex has 120 units that are rented to lower-income

households.

AT A GLANCE

VP map

ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD