WASHINGTON, D.C. — Toll Brothers Apartment Living and GSLM Capital Partners, a venture between L+M Development Partners and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, have received $160 million in construction financing for Phase I of a new multifamily project in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
The project will redevelop Sursum Corda Cooperative, a low-income housing complex built in 1968. Sursum’s tenant association sold the site in 2018. As part of the agreement, current residents of Sursum will have the right to rent up to 127 units included in the new complex.
Phase I of the project will include 561 units, approximately 20 percent of which will be designated as affordable. It will also feature one acre of public open space and nearly 50,000 square feet of amenities.
Citi Community Capital provided the $160 million, funded with $23 million of tax-exempt notes issued through the Washington, D.C. Housing Finance Agency and a $137 million taxable construction loan. In addition, Citi arranged a $160 million forward commitment for permanent financing from Freddie Mac in its role as an Optigo lender. Goldman Sachs, in addition to its land loan financing and equity participation, will purchase approximately $15.7 million of low-income housing tax credits.
The total project cost of the redevelopment is estimated at $225 million. Toll Brothers and L+M will oversee the development, management and marketing of the project.
Phase I received unanimous approval from the Zoning Commission last year and will be built on the southern portion of the site. Of the Phase I units, 118 will be restricted to residents who earn at or below 80 percent of the area median income.
Phase I will be built across two separate buildings. The 216-unit southwest building will include health- and wellness-centered amenities such as a cardio and weightlifting room, yoga and cycling rooms, yoga deck, pool, coworking lounge and pet spa. The 345-unit southeast building will feature community-driven amenities such as a coffee bar, coworking space, game room, greenhouse and rooftop deck.
Mount Airy in Action, an affiliate of neighboring Mount Airy Baptist Church, will participate in the joint venture by promoting the development’s affordable housing.
Construction has commenced on Phase I, which is slated to open in 2022. Other phases of construction will bring the project’s total apartment count to 1,100 units, 199 of which will be affordable.
Toll Brothers Apartment Living is the apartment development division of Toll Brothers Inc., a luxury home builder. The firm has developed more than 6,200 units.
Since its inception in 1984, L+M has acquired, built or preserved nearly 30,000 residential units in New York’s tristate area, the West Coast and Gulf Coast regions. The full-service firm develops affordable, mixed-income and market-rate housing.
— Kristin Hiller