Riverchase Apartments in Newport has rebranded as Flats on the Row, according to the condo complex’s Facebook page. Additionally, signage around the property now sports the Flats on the Row name and branding.
The 4.25-acre complex features seven buildings with 203 total units. In total, there are 11 studios, 148 one-bedroom units and 44 two-bedroom units. Built in 1975, it was originally called the Newport Yacht & Tennis Club. Over time, the complex fell into disrepair.
Located at 100 Riverboat Row, running parallel to the Ohio River, Flats on the Row is across the street from Ovation — a $1 billion mixed-use development that has caused neighboring property values to rise.
Riverchase was sold to Fairway America, a Portland, Oregon-based real estate investment firm, and Columbus-based Huber Equity Group, on May 27 of last year for $22.6 million. Prior to that, the property last sold in 2003 for $6.575 million — a 243% increase in value. It was previously owned and managed by real estate investor Ray Brown.
Flats on the Row features three apartments sizes:
- 375 square foot studio with one bathroom: $805 per month
- 690 square feet – one bedroom, one bathroom apartment: $1,250 per month
- 810 square feet – two bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms: $1,425 per month
Community amenities offered include a newly renovated clubhouse, fitness center, courtyard and picnic area, common hallways, new exterior finishes on the buildings, off-street parking, community coffee bar, laundry facilities and close proximity to Ovation.
Apartment interiors come cable ready and offer amenities like new appliances, air conditioning, LED lighting and patios/balconies. Pets are also allowed.
Before the acquisition, rent at then-Riverchase was much cheaper. Under previous ownership, rent for a studio apartment in the complex cost $560 per month, a one-bedroom unit was $660 per month and a two-bedroom unit cost $760 per month, according to raybrownproperties.com.
“The rents that they’re getting now almost look like 1975 rents,” said the Fairway America Principal Darris Cassidy in a YouTube video published on the firm’s website in April 2022.
Cassidy went on to say that similar properties in the area are renting for “upwards of $1,100, $1,200. We’re 40%, 50% below comparable properties in its current state.”
Last September, Cincinnati-based Towne Properties, the firm managing the complex, distributed letters of non-renewal to a number of tenants regarding their leases. The letters cited interior renovations and repairs to many of the units as the reason for non-renewal. At the time, Fairway America’s Riverchase investment summary listed occupancy rates at 99%.
“As planned, the new owners and management team will continue to make repairs, address issues, and complete projects with the intention of returning the property to an acceptable standard,” Towne Properties said in an emailed statement to LINK nky last October.
Longtime residents such as Constance Matthews, who had lived at the complex since 2001, had to vacate the premises and find a new place to live.
“I don’t think that’s right,” Matthews said at a Sept. 19 Newport City Commission meeting. “I feel sorry for the people that live in Victoria Square, and I’m going through the same thing.”
Fairway and Huber have invested thousands of dollars into modernizing the apartments.
“A lot of money will have to go into it,” Fairway President Adrian Boly said in the video. “It’s not a light thing. It’s somewhere in the order of probably $15,000 per unit for the interiors, probably somewhere around $10,000 to $12,000 for exterior renovations.”
Boly detailed why he thought Riverchase was a good investment for both Fairway and Huber.
“It’s proximate to a very large, mixed-use development (Ovation) that a national developer (Corporex) has spent quite a bit of time on — broke ground last year on, which will really I think bring a lot of economic value and activity to the immediate area where this property is located,” Boly said.
