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| Michele Evans |
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LOS ANGELES, CA – Avanath Capital Management, LLC, a private real estate investment manager, announces it has acquired a 669-unit family workforce housing community located in Los Angeles, California for $220 million. The firm purchased the property, Baldwin
Village, at 4220 Santa Rosalia Drive, Los Angeles,. as a joint venture with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA)
and Kaiser Permanente, and plans to involve
a few additional institutional investors in the coming months.
Avanath plans to convert 70% of Baldwin
Village’s units to affordable housing, serving residents earning between 60%
and 80% of area median income (AMI) and allowing the firm to provide
budget-friendly homes in the country’s least affordable rental market,
according to Daryl Carter, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Avanath.
“Avanath’s primary mission is to deliver attainable residences in areas of the U.S. where many people are challenged to find homes they can afford,” says Carter. “With Q2 market-rate
apartment rents increasing 17.3% year-over-year in Los Angeles,
we are honored and excited to partner with these public and private entities
to bolster the supply of affordable housing in a rapidly improving and
increasingly expensive community.”
The acquisition of Baldwin Village was financed in part by Fannie Mae. Michele Evans, Executive Vice President and Head of Multifamily at Fannie Mae
says: “We are pleased to work with Avanath on this workforce housing
community and applaud their dedication to preserving and expanding the supply
of affordable housing. "The resident
support services will help improve residents’ experiences and drive positive
social outcomes.”
Through this collaboration, the community will be eligible for a California tax exemption for properties that serve tenants at 80% of AMI or lower, notes Carter. “Avanath has long championed public-private
partnerships as an excellent solution for delivering quality affordable
housing in markets experiencing especially high rental rates, where there is
a lack of homes within reach of many lower-income families and individuals,”
says Carter. “By partnering with HACLA and Kaiser
Permanente, we are able to contribute to alleviating this issue in a metro
with a critical lack of affordability in both the rental and for-sale home
markets.” Baldwin Village, which will be managed by
Avanath’s property management group Avanath Communities, Inc., marks the
firm’s fifth acquisition in Los Angeles and second market-rate-to-affordable
conversion without the use of tax credit equity, notes John R. Williams,
President and CIO at Avanath Capital Management. “Partnering with a public agency on this
purchase speaks to Avanath’s reputation within the public sector and our
ability to navigate programs that are mainly geared towards tax-credit
developers,” says Williams. “With access to these
programs, we are able to execute preservation strategies that position our
residents and the community to thrive for the long term.”
"We couldn’t be
more pleased to be joined in this effort by a firm like Avanath that
understands the housing needs of the city and its residents so well and is
committed to addressing those needs.” In acquiring Baldwin Village with HACLA,
Avanath has identified an opportunity to modernize the community in a
fiscally responsible way on behalf of its residents, according to Keith
Harris, Executive Vice President of Acquisitions for Avanath. “Working with HACLA enables us to assure low-
and moderate-income tenants that rents will be kept affordable while
simultaneously allowing us to make significant enhancements to the property,”
says Harris. “Conducting these
renovations will make Baldwin Village indistinguishable from nearby
market-rate apartment communities and dramatically elevate residents’ quality
of life.” Planned improvements at the property include
updating interiors and flooring, updating electrical infrastructure to support
the addition of basic unit amenities such as dishwashers, microwaves, and
replacing furnaces and roofs. Upgrades will extend to the public
infrastructure, including transformers and conduits owned by the utility
company Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In addition, Avanath will implement its proven
social programming strategy to improve the resident experience, including
such services as community engagement programs, financial literacy classes,
and health-oriented services. Kaiser Permanente has deep experience making strategic impact
investments that preserve and create affordable housing in order to improve
the health outcomes of the 68 million people who live in the communities it
serves. Built in the 1940s and 1950s, Baldwin Village
is part of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MSA. The transit-oriented
property is ideally located near shopping and public transportation and is a
20-minute drive southwest of Downtown Los Angeles and a 24-minute drive
northeast of Los Angeles International Airport. The 98.5% occupied apartment community consists of 61 two-story walk-up structures totaling 324 one-bedroom units, 296 two-bedroom units, 31 three-bedroom units and 13 studios. Common amenities at the property include 358 surface parking spaces and 452 garage spaces, electric doors in some garages, and central laundry facilities. Contact: Brooke Belt/Elisabeth Manville The Smart Agency 949-438-6262 |
