ABSTRACT
In 1985 the Faith Church of Christ (FCC), owner of the Sun-Hope, sold the twin apartment complex as separate entities. A group of investors led by Jason Saunders, a former chairman of the FCC, purchased Sunrise and began to upgrade the complexes. In 1986, Gail Peterson, the president of Shelter Incorporated brokered funding from private and public investors to purchase Hope Mansions. 1 In the midst of the drug trade and the sounds of gunfire, Shelter Incorporated attempted to restore normality to the neighborhood. The management company was replaced, and tenants delinquent in rent and/or found to be operating crack houses were evicted. For nearly a year, Shelter Incorporated stopped leasing Hope Mansions apartments. The vacancy rate was 50 percent by the time renovation started in 1990.
