TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Housing Trust Group (HTG) has broken ground on Lafayette Gardens, a planned 96-unit affordable housing community in Tallahassee. The property will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans with rents ranging from $315 to $930 per month. The units will be reserved for residents earning at or below 33 percent of area median income (AMI) or 60 percent of AMI. Units will range in size from 709 square feet to 1,159 square feet. Communal amenities will include a clubhouse, pool, playground, media center, fitness center and a biking/walking trail. Residents will also have access to employment assistance, financial management and literacy services onsite. Hennessy Construction Services is the general contractor, Fugleberg Koch is the architect, Inovia Group is the civil engineer, Stiles Interiors is the interior designer and Wood + Partners is the landscape architect. HTG expects to open the community in June 2021. Chase Bank provided an initial $15 million construction loan, Raymond James provided $16.1 million in 9 percent low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity and Walker & Dunlop provided a $4.8 million Freddie Mac permanent loan for the development.
Multifamily
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — CBRE has negotiated the $10.6 million sale of the Old Southeast Portfolio, a seven-property multifamily portfolio in St. Petersburg. The portfolio traded at $83,730 per unit, or a 5.3 percent cap rate. The buyer, Otto Investment Group, is planning both interior and exterior renovations across all seven properties. The seller, Second Half Properties, maintained 95 percent rent collection in April and May, according to CBRE. The properties include Old Southeast Apartments, Tropical Shores, The Palms Apartments, Bayside Apartments, Park View Apartments, Lakewood Apartments and Uptown St. Petersburg. The communities are roughly 25 miles southwest of downtown Tampa. Joseph Thavis and Cameron Barbas of CBRE represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction.
Great Bridge Begins Development of 70-Unit Seniors Housing Project in Lunenburg, Massachusetts
by Alex Patton
LUNENBURG, MASS. — Great Bridge Properties, a New Hampshire-based developer, has begun development of Baker Brook Apartments, a 70-unit seniors housing property in Lunenburg, approximately 25 miles north of Worcester. Located on nearly four acres, the community will feature 62 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units. The property will serve seniors ages 55 and older earning 80 percent or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) and 48 units will be reserved for seniors earning 60 percent or less of the AMI. Eight units will be reserved for seniors earning 30 percent or less of the AMI. Ten percent of the units will feature a preference toward homeless populations.
Greystone Provides $43.9M Loan for Refinancing of Seniors Housing Portfolio in Upstate New York
by Alex Patton
NEW YORK — Greystone has provided a $43.9 million loan for the refinancing of a three-property seniors housing portfolio in Upstate New York. Centers for Care was the borrower. The three skilled nursing facilities total 323 beds and include Ontario Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Canandaigua; Steuben Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Bath; and Corning Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Corning. Fred Levine of Greystone originated the loan. Terms of the loan were undisclosed.
ATLANTA — Hunt Development Group has started construction of Phase I of Herndon Square, a 12-acre, mixed-use project in downtown Atlanta. Upon full build-out, the project will feature 700 residential units, 40,000 square feet of retail space and 20,000 square feet of community space open to the general public. The site is located on Northside Drive, approximately one mile north of Mercedes-Benz Arena, Philips Arena, Centennial Olympic Park and the other attractions in the heart of the city. The project, a redevelopment of the former Herndon Homes affordable community, will feature a mix of affordable and market-rate apartments and for-sale townhomes. Development costs are estimated at $166 million. Phase I of the project will include a five-story affordable housing building for seniors totaling 97 units, as well as an associated surface parking lot. Phase II will include a residential building and mixed-use building with a grocery store as the ground-floor anchor. Phase III will add another residential building and a second mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and apartments above, as well as the Herndon Green public outdoor area and a community supportive services building. Phase IV will add a final apartment building, while the fifth and final phase will add …
DENVER — Southern California-based ReyLenn Properties has opened Solana Stapleton, an apartment community in Denver’s Stapleton submarket. The asset is the first market-rate rental property developed by a third party in the master-planned Stapleton community. The 280-unit property features a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with rental rates starting at $1,549 per month. On-site amenities include a saltwater pool; spa; state-of-the-art fitness center with yoga and spin studio; indoor basketball court; high-definition golf and sports simulator; outdoor beer garden with gaming and a pizza oven; food truck court; and community gardens. Additionally, the property features standalone co-working space that is accessible for residents at discounted rates or the general public at full rates.
CINCINNATI — Merchants Capital has secured a $57 million FHA/HUD Section 221(d)(4) loan for 4th & Race, a 264-unit apartment community currently under development in downtown Cincinnati. The project is slated to open in the first half of 2021. Merchants secured the new construction loan on behalf of the developer, Flaherty & Collins Properties. The new loan represents the multifamily component of the project, which will also feature 20,000 square feet of retail space and a five-story parking garage. The residential portion will sit atop the retail and parking components. Amenities will include a sky deck, pool, fitness center, yoga room, gaming area and club room. Flaherty & Collins worked concurrently with the city of Cincinnati, the Port Authority of Greater Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Center City Development Crop. to bring the project to life. FHA/HUD Section 221 (d) (4) loans are used exclusively for the construction or substantial rehabilitation of multifamily properties. Eligible assets include market-rate, low-to-moderate income and subsidized multifamily properties.
Greystone Provides $91.3M Fannie Mae Refinancing for 1,406-Unit HSL Multifamily Portfolio in Tucson
by Amy Works
TUCSON, ARIZ. — Greystone has provided $91.3 million in Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) loans to refinance a 1,406-unit multifamily portfolio in Tucson. Dan Wolins of Greystone originated the separate transactions for the borrower, HSL Properties. The financings all carry 10-year terms at a fixed rate, 30-year amortization and five years of interest-only payments. The non-recourse loans refinance four properties in Tucson: the 242-unit Canyon Creek, the 256-unit Ridgepoint, the 336-unit Catalina Canyon and the 572-unit Sycamore Creek.
Meta Housing, R.D. Olson Break Ground on Lamp Lodge Affordable Housing Project in Downtown Los Angeles
by Amy Works
LOS ANGELES — Meta Housing, as developer, and R.D. Olson Construction, as general contractor, have broken ground on Lamp Lodge, a 49,000-square-foot affordable housing community in downtown Los Angeles. Located at 660 Stanford Ave., the seven-story building will offer 74 studio units, seven one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom unit. All units will feature a refrigerator, dishwasher and range, as well as energy-efficient windows. Community amenities will include an on-site laundry room, community center and open residential courtyard. KFA Architecture and JAG Interiors are serving as architects for the project, which is slated for completion in first-quarter 2021. JP Morgan Bank and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles are funding the development, which is situated on the site of a former four-story apartment community.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) Rent Payment Tracker found that as of June 6, 80.8 percent of apartment households paid rent for the month of June. The Washington, D.C.-based organization reports that the June figure is a 0.6 percent increase over May 6, but it is a 0.7 percent decrease from this point in June 2019. Nearly 20 percent of households with at-risk wages in small multifamily apartments may have difficulty paying rent, according to a study published June 11 by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. In addition, 32 percent of renter respondents to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, conducted from May 28 to June 2, reported “no or slight confidence” in their ability to pay next month’s rent. “While our Rent Payment Tracker metric continues to show the resilience and strength of the professionally managed apartment industry, it does not necessarily tell the whole story, as it doesn’t capture rent payments for smaller landlords or for affordable and subsidized properties,” says Doug Bibby, president of NMHC. The organization surveyed apartment management companies responsible for 11.4 million units nationwide. There are 21.4 million apartments nationwide in buildings with more than five units, …