The Seniors Housing Council of the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB), an organization founded in 1942 to provide, safe, decent and affordable housing, recently has presented the Frisco Senior Apartments in Joplin with their first place award (platinum) for Overall Project in Renovated Seniors Housing. NAHB's 2005 Best of Seniors Housing Awards, presented in Orlando, FL as part of the 2005 International Builders Show, were the end result of competition that included for-sale condominiums, rental apartments and affordable rental apartments from senior communities across the United States.

The Frisco Building was originally built as a railroad depot in 1913 and was Joplin’s first modern high-rise office building. It served as a train depot until 1955. After years of gradually losing tenants, the building was completely vacant in 1987. By early 2001 the city was considering demolition when Carlson Garner, Inc., a Springfield real estate developer, began restoration of the building in April of 2002 after a successful award of low income housing tax credits from the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC). This historic restoration preserved the architectural integrity and beauty of the building while providing 57 modern, safe, comfortable, and affordable one and two bedroom apartments for seniors.

Carlson Gardner was formed for the purpose of developing single family and multi-family properties on a statewide basis with an emphasis in providing high quality affordable housing for all sectors of the population. Utilizing funding sources through the MHDC and partnering with local non-profits such as Economic Security Corporation of Southwest Area, the sponsor of Frisco Station, Carlson Gardner continues to tackle the task at hand one city at a time.

This is the third award Frisco Station Apartments has received. Others include the Missouri Governor's Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing and the "Best of the Best" Award from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development.

Editor's note: Click here for more details about the Frisco project.

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