PHOENIX — Blackstone and Dominium have expanded their partnership to develop Casa Azure, which will bring 196 new affordable housing units to Phoenix. Blackstone will provide $31 million of tax credit equity to support the development. This increases Blackstone’s commitment to expand the affordable housing stock in Maricopa County to a total of 568 new LIHTC units through $79 million of investments. Casa Azure will be an age-restricted property available to those earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income.
MOORPARK, CALIF. — Danco has purchased an 18-acre development site in the Ventura County city of Moorpark, with plans for a 200-unit affordable multifamily project. The proposed development, known as Vendra Gardens, will feature 80 one-bedroom/one-bathroom units, 68 two-bedroom/two-bathroom units, and 52 three-bedroom/two-bathroom units. It will also include a 2,500-square-foot leasing building and a 2,500-square-foot amenity building. Danco received funding for the project through tax credits by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and a grading permit has been issued. The units will be available for those who earn 30 to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), which will account for 65 percent of the total project. Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura’s Matt Benwitt and J.C. Martin facilitated the land sale on behalf of the buyer. The seller was Essex Property Trust.
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Higher Interest Rates Cause Affordable Housing Values to Return to Old Norms
Rising interest rates dinging commercial real estate and multifamily assets have plunged low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) properties back into reality, especially those coming to the end of their 15-year compliance periods. “There were some huge profits made in the affordable housing space over the last two or three years,” says Cliff McDaniel, a managing director with Lument, which is representing Harmony Housing in the $1.4 billion sale of its affordable housing portfolio to the Michaels Organization. “We sold a lot of properties for $60,000 a unit or even $120,000 a unit, and the debt was $40,000 a unit. But the mania over that type of profitability is over, and values are going back to where they were before.” Up until about five years ago, the phrase “huge profits” and “affordable housing” would rarely if ever have occurred in the same sentence. Or even in the same story. Prior to that, affordable housing properties typically had very little value at the end of their initial 15-year compliance periods, and limited partners who provided equity to the project by buying tax credits routinely agreed to sell their interest to the general partner for a nominal fee. At that point, the …
SAN ANTONIO — A partnership between OCI Development, Atlantic Pacific Cos., Opportunity Home San Antonio and Bank of America has completed Vista at Interpark, a 64-unit affordable housing project in San Antonio. Vista at Interpark is located near San Antonio International Airport on the city’s north side and houses one-, two- and three-bedroom units that are reserved for households earning 60 percent or less of the area median income. Amenities include a fitness center, business center and onsite laundry facilities. Rents start at $225 per month for a one-bedroom apartment.
ONTARIO, CALIF. — R.D. Olson Construction has broken ground on the Emporia Housing development in the Inland Empire city of Ontario. The 50-unit affordable housing complex is scheduled for completion by mid-summer 2024. Located at 310 W. Emporia St. in a semi-residential neighborhood, the $17.8 million, 60,000-square-foot project will be the second phase of the development, with Phase I already completed. The new buildings are slated to be two and three stories in height. R.D. Olson partnered with Danielian Associates Architects on the project.
KENT, WASH. — Preservation Equity Fund Advisors LLC (PEF Advisors) has acquired Webster Court, a 92-unit, four-story affordable seniors housing community in Kent, 20 miles south of Seattle. PEF Advisors has budgeted approximately $1.2 million, or $12,915 per unit, to address deferred maintenance, improve curb appeal, and elevate the quality of housing and competitiveness of the property. The seller and price were not disclosed. Resident parking consists of 38 uncovered spaces. All 92 apartment units are one-bedrooms and average 458 square feet. As of March 2023, the property was 88 percent occupied, with occupancy numbers expected to rise as property improvements are completed. Webster Court primarily serves seniors age 55 and older, as well as people with disabilities. It was originally built in 1994 with tax credits from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) and is governed by a LIHTC LURA that restricts 24 units at 35 percent of area median income (AMI), and 66 units at 60 percent AMI.
BOSTON — A partnership between the Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), the City of Boston and Madison Park Development Corp. has broken ground on the third and final phase of a mixed-income redevelopment project in the city’s Lower Roxbury neighborhood. Known as Flat 9 at Whittier, the final phase will deliver 172 affordable housing units and 9,000 square feet of commercial space in a 13-story building to the site of the former Whittier Street Apartments. Phases I and II of the redevelopment, which will ultimately house 300 residences that will be subject to a range of income restrictions, were completed in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
BOSTON — Locally based developer Chestnut Hill Realty Corp. will build Puddingstone at Chestnut Hill, a 250-unit mixed-income residential community at 201 Sherman Road in Boston’s Brookline area. The unit mix will consist of 90 one-bedrooms, 135 two-bedrooms and 25 three-bedrooms, with 50 residences designated as affordable housing for renters earning up to 30 or 50 percent of the area median income. Chestnut Hill will also construct a total of 377 parking spaces through a two-story deck and surface lots. MassDevelopment provided $126 million in both taxable and tax-exempt bonds for the project. A tentative completion date was not disclosed.
SAN ANTONIO — DiversyFund, a fintech and investment platform focused on multifamily assets, has completed the renovation of Mission Villas, a 174-unit multifamily property in San Antonio. According to Apartments.com, the complex was built in 1965 and offers studio and one-bedroom units, as well as amenities such as a pool, playground and outdoor grilling and dining areas. Renovations included upgrades to the kitchens and bathrooms of all units and improvements to building exteriors.
DOUGLASVILLE, GA. — GREA (Global Real Estate Advisors) has arranged the $6.5 million sale of Douglasville Proper, a 100-unit affordable housing community located at 8424 Chicago Ave. in Douglasville, a suburb of Atlanta. Cory Caroline Sams and Taylor Brown of GREA represented the seller, Signature Management, in the transaction. The buyer, S & S Capital Partners, plans to preserve the affordability of the LIHTC property during its ownership. Built in 1995, Douglasville Proper features one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans.