A local, nonprofit affordable housing agency thinks it is close to finalizing a $1.35 million deal to purchase a troubled Lawrence apartment complex that provides subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled.

Barbara Huppee, executive director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, confirmed Wednesday that representatives with the ownership group of the 58-unit Clinton Place Apartment complex, 2125 Clinton Parkway, have agreed to accept the agency’s offer of $1.35 million.

But the deal is now waiting final approval from officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. Final approval could come today or Friday, Huppee said.

The apartment complex, which is just west and south of 23rd and Iowa streets, is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction Monday. If HUD leaders approve the deal, the auction would be canceled.

If sold at a foreclosure auction, the apartment complex still would be required to be used for low-income housing, regardless of who purchases it. But if purchased by a private group, there would be future opportunities for the owners to petition HUD to release the property from its low-income obligations. Huppee said that won’t happen with the Housing Authority as the owner because its mission is to provide low-income housing.

Jim Pohrer, who serves as the managing partner for the complex’s Leawood-based ownership group, said he wants to sell the apartments to the Housing Authority because of the track record it has for running low-income senior housing.

“It has a waiting list for the units it operates today,” Pohrer said. “The Housing Authority needs more low-income housing units.”

The Housing Authority operates Babcock Place, Edgewood Homes, Peterson Acres and several other smaller projects in Lawrence.

Huppee said the Clinton Place property will need about $500,000 in renovations that include a new roof and replacing most of the interior furnishings and cabinets. The Housing Authority, which receives federal funding, is planning to pay for the property and renovation with reserve funds.

Huppee said all the apartment’s current residents will be allowed to stay, but in the future it will be converted into strictly a facility for low-income senior citizens. Currently, the apartments house seniors and disabled adults who meet the income guidelines.

Rents would not change for current residents because the rents already are based on the same federal guidelines that the Housing Authority uses.