Nashville’s newest subsidized apartment building is drawing praise for offering affordable rents in a coveted location.
The Randee Rogers Apartments provide 75 new affordable units, plus 25 units renting at the market rate. The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, or MDHA, will operate the complex as part of a partnership that involved city, state and federal governments, plus private banks.
At the grand opening, resident Jowaune McKenzie touted its fitness center and community gathering space, and said she gets easy access to many amenities along Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, like a Kroger grocery store and the Nashville Farmers Market.
“To say it’s convenient, to me that would be an understatement. We’re located near everything,” she said. “It’s definitely a luxury to live in a prime location like this.”
Officials say the apartments also represent their commitment to creating mixed-income communities: 50 units are subsidized, 25 are offered at a “workforce” rate and 25 are rented at the market rate. They range from one bedroom to three bedrooms.
The building replaces a former non-residential MDHA building, but it holds on to the same namesake. Randee Rogers worked for MDHA and advocated for its residents in the 1970s while pushing for racial integration. Her story — including her move into a subsidized unit to better understand the needs of the people she served — was recounted in this 2019 Curious Nashville story inspired by a question from a WPLN listener.
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