Serving Its Youngest Residents
Pembridge Square Makes Children's Programs Part of Its Mission

By Susan Straight
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, March 25, 2006

Pembridge Square's location just a few blocks from the Wheaton Metro station would normally mean rents at the higher end of the Washington area's spectrum.

However, under the ownership of the Montgomery Housing Partnership, units go for below-market rates to those in need, starting at $757 a month.

The 135-unit complex of three- and four-story red-brick buildings sits among similar communities -- the 125-unit Amherst Square and 22-unit Amherst Gardens -- also owned by Montgomery Housing Partnership. The most notable difference among the three, said Robert Goldman, president of the nonprofit housing organization, is that units at Amherst Gardens are slightly more expensive -- all have balconies and two bedrooms.

Pembridge Square runs along both sides of Blueridge Avenue between Amherst Avenue and Elkin Street, just off busy University Boulevard. The property is landscaped with just a few trees and shrubs and has green awnings and wrought-iron railings on small entry porches.

Renovated bathrooms and kitchens and new carpets have improved the complex's condition greatly since the housing partnership bought it in January 2002. Then, "It had over 1,000 county housing code violations," Goldman said. Work started in October 2003 and was completed in December 2004.

The property, which had never undergone major renovations, required extensive replacements, including roofs, windows, entryways and flooring, plus installation of air conditioning and heat in each unit. The work on the property, which Montgomery Housing Partnership bought for $7 million, cost $40,000 per unit, according to the group.

"Everything was bad," agreed Noemi Bonilla, a tenant who was referred to the property by her brother-in-law. "The cabinets were falling apart, the floor was in bad condition and the paint was peeling off," but she and her husband could not afford any other apartment, she said in Spanish. That was before the renovations. "Now it looks much better. It's good now," she said.

Montgomery Housing Partnership did more than renovate the property. It expanded its community life programs to include Pembridge residents and converted the old boiler room into a community center when it installed individual heating and air conditioning units. "We take the long view. We're not looking to flip in 10 years. . . . We're looking to keep this in our portfolio," Goldman said.

Programs such as the homework club and the preschool club are the most important to mothers such as Rosa Ventura and Xenia Merino. Ventura's daughter Josselyn, 4, enjoys the bright yellow and orange room full of learning toys where she goes to pre-kindergarten programs three days a week. "It's a lot of help for me and my husband," said Ventura, who also has twin 3-year-old girls and an 11-year-old son.

When Montgomery Housing Partnership purchased the property, some of the residents didn't qualify for reduced rent. But it did not have to evict any residents for that reason. It leases 10 percent of its units at market rates.

But for qualifying residents, Pembridge rents range from $757 for an efficiency to $1,200 for a three-bedroom. A hundred units are reserved for residents who earn less than 60 percent of Montgomery County's median income -- the qualifying level was $37,500 for one person in 2005. Twenty units are earmarked for residents who earn less than 30 percent of the county's median income -- $18,750 for one person in 2005.

These incomes are well below those of most people who can afford to live near a Metro stop. The neighborhood is full of luxury townhouse communities and mid-rise condominiums; Westfield Shoppingtown Wheaton, with Macy's, Hecht's and other department stores, is within blocks of Pembridge Square.

This means that residents such as Ted Suess can live independently. "It's a convenient location near my mother, who is 87," Suess said. He has lived at Pembridge Square for 18 of the 50-some years he has lived in Wheaton.

Suess does not have a car, but can walk to anything he needs. Occasionally his mother drives him to restaurants out of the neighborhood, but they also go to Barnaby's Pub, a block away, or Ferdinand's Restaurant, about two blocks away. There are many other casual restaurants as well as a wide variety of small markets and other services along University Boulevard, a block from Pembridge Square.

In addition to a convenient location, the complex has nice people, Suess said. Though he finds language a barrier with most of his neighbors, he said he likes to be friendly. "I say, 'hola,' " he said, adding that he doesn't otherwise speak Spanish.

His neighbor, Song Lac, has lived at Pembridge even longer than Suess. "Through four owners," Lac said. He moved into a three-bedroom unit 21 years ago, shortly after he arrived in the United States from Vietnam.

After helping his eight children immigrate and settle into U.S. life, he and his wife moved to a one-bedroom where they have lived for the last 16 years. He takes pride in keeping his apartment very clean. Some of his children have urged him to move, but he does not wish to. "This area is very good," he said.

Sabrina Copelin and her children, some of the newest residents, have lived at Pembridge Square only two months, but share Lac's and Suess's need for affordable housing. Copelin discovered the apartments "while driving past one day." She plans to get her daughter, 6, and son, 12, involved in the after-school homework club that meets in the Pembridge Square community center from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.

The homework club and other programs at the community center help parents connect and give all residents the chance to build skills. Parents say they get to know each other through the homework club and pre-kindergarten activities.

Copelin said, "The after-school program is the best."