By DAVID COLBURN

News editor

Investors from south-central Kansas bought Sunrise Townhomes on Friday from a group of private investors who opened the complex in 1997, temporarily creating more questions than answers.

Jimmie and Susan Powell of Atlanta purchased the low-income senior housing duplexes for an undisclosed amount. Doug Sharp, one of three investors who have overseen the project, declined to reveal the amount, but said the sales price was far better than rejected bids from a failed auction last fall.

“The day of the auction it was a silly-low number because no one was there,” Sharp said. “It sold for the appraised value of the appraisal we had done a year before that.”

Sharp said that appraisal is lower than the $538,500 figure listed by the county appraiser.

The Powells didn’t come to Friday’s closing, and Sharp said he hasn’t gotten any indication of their plans for Sunrise. However, he said how the duplexes are marketed could change.

“They are aware that most of those units are no longer a part of the low-income elderly housing,” Sharp said, “so they would be free to do what they want to do, who they rent to, where we were obligated to rent to 55-and-older and low income.”

Also uncertain is what will happen to Bobby and David Richmond, the complex managers. Sharp complimented the couple for maintaining the property in good condition, which he said helped sell it.

While Bobby Richmond declined to comment, Sharp said the Powells haven’t made any commitments yet.

“She does not know if she’s going to be working for them going forward,” Sharp said. “I know that she’s going to collect rents for them this month, and do some other minor repairs for them in the next couple weeks. Beyond that, we don’t know.”

Another unknown is what final returns Sunrise investors will see.

“You’ll get a different answer depending on who you talk to, and the reason is because there were tax credits we got for 10 years associated with it,” Sharp said. “Those of us who were able to use those credits in the year we got them would say the sale of the property netted more than we put in originally. Some people, for whatever reason, were not able to use all their tax credits in that year.”

At a meeting later this month, sale proceeds and $60,000 in reserve funds will be distributed to investors, Sharp said.

“We’re going to be careful about how much money we issue because we will still have some minor expenses,” he said. “Most people should feel pretty good about this sale.”

Sharp was among a minority who were reluctant to sell the townhomes, as the property had been paid off and the value of returns would likely increase. He said the group has gotten larger as some investors have died and their shares split among their heirs.

“I think that what’s drove selling it, to avoid complications with more investors down the road,” Sharp said.

Attempts to contact the Powells were unsuccessful. Sharp said he believed they were on a vacation.