The president and CEO of a regional property management company cares deeply about the local vulnerable populations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and in particular, women who have been challenged by experiences with domestic violence. That’s why Paul Panza has launched a subsidized housing program in Plano.
“Some of Paul’s passion comes from seeing friends personally go through domestic violence and helping them find housing,” said Sana Syed, Nicholas Residential’s executive vice president of community outreach and development. “His family has done a lot of work with the refugee population through Catholic charities. So, this is something very close to his heart.”
Since Panza founded Nicholas Residential, the company has grown to oversee some $400 million in assets. Panza is also president and CEO of Bellevue Realty Management LLC, which is the firm’s property and construction management arm.
“These are women who, in many cases, are housing insecure,” Syed told The Dallas Express. “They have either left a dangerous situation, or are in a visa situation, or have simply lost their homes in the process of trying to get to a healthier place.”
According to the 2020 Domestic Violence Task Force Report for the City of Dallas, family violence aggravated assaults increased by 8.6% in Dallas over last year, and family violence homicides, though not on par with the previous year, are still high with 26 to date compared to 31 in 2020.
Syed spearheaded the pilot subsidized housing program, which has been in the works for two years but was delayed by the pandemic.
“We were supposed to launch in the spring of 2020,” she said. “It’s been a labor of love to really get this off the ground because nonprofits were so overwhelmed when COVID hit last year. We are excited about this partnership and are looking to expand it to different properties because in the multifamily industry, you typically have a few units that, at any given moment, are vacant. We want to take that portion of our inventory and provide it to good use to the community.”
Through Bellevue Living, a subsidiary of Nicholas Residential, the subsidized housing program is providing seven women survivors of domestic violence with apartments in the Bellevue at Spring Creek property in Plano.
Bellevue Living, a real estate investment firm headquartered in Dallas, invests in apartment communities in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Tennessee, Nevada, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
“We’re trying to create a housing model that helps lift women and vulnerable populations out of poverty, but the majority of this property is still being operated as a standard apartment complex,” Syed said.
Women who are tenants at Bellevue at Spring Creek through this subsidized housing program are all enrolled in the Agape Resource & Assistance Center, which is a nonprofit serving Collin County.
“We were able to place a few women that work under Agape’s care into units that we hope can set them up for success and staircase them into being able to sustain their own financial health and keeping a roof over their head,” Syed said.
In November, Bellevue Living sold five garden-style apartment communities in the DFW metroplex.
“The sale of these middle-market apartment communities proves our success in generating a return of capital to our investors and taking advantage of each asset’s position in demanding markets allowing us to sell at an optimum time,” Panza said in a statement last week.
The properties sold include Bellevue Terrace in Dallas, The Reserve at Bellevue, Bellevue Chase, and The Park at Bellevue in Fort Worth, and Bellevue Heights in Mesquite. Combined, the five apartment communities total 1,319-units.
“In commercial real estate, you typically see apartment complexes turnover to new owners within a three-to-five-year cycle,” Syed said. “We were within that cycle, and there was an interested buyer.”
Bellevue Living provides up to 3% of vacant units at 50% off the market rate for up to two years to subsidized housing program participants who must commit to a minimum of two case management appointments each month.
“As long as the client is referred to us from Agape, we provide that client with 50% off of their rent,” Syed said. “Our contracts are typically a year, and we have guaranteed them housing for at least two years. We are willing to negotiate longer terms if that’s necessary.”
Located in East Plano, the Agape Resource & Assistance Center public foundation serves women, moms, and their children facing situational homelessness, including staying on a friend’s couch due to an eviction, living in a car, or staying in extended stay hotels.
“Agape works to provide them with the caseworkers and the mental health services that they need, but then also works to provide housing for the women they are caring for,” Syed said. “If there are any nonprofits that are interested, we’d love to talk to them to see if we can partner with them on this subsidized housing program initiative.”
