Standard Communities Pays $1B for Affordable Housing Portfolio With Over 6,000 Units

Housing developer Standard Communities has brought more than 60 affordable communities under its wing in the year’s latest $1 billion deal. 

The portfolio is made up of more than 6,000 affordable units, which more than 13,000 residents call home, across four states; California, Arizona, Texas and Colorado. Standard entered the latter three states for the first time with the deal. The new acquisition brings Standard’s national portfolio to almost 27,000 units.

“Our strategic planning in this difficult interest rate environment has allowed us to enter into new states, greatly expand our portfolio and continue to invest in people’s futures by offering them affordable places to live,” Jeffrey Jaeger, Standard co-founder and principal, said in a statement.

The firm acquired six properties in the Golden State — including three in Southern California and three in Northern California’s Bay Area — from four different sellers, according to property records. 

Center Pointe Villas at 11856 Orange Street in Norwalk was sold by Foundation for Affordable Housing (FAH); Harmony Court Senior Apartment Homes at 4502 186th Street in Redondo Beach and Almaden Apartments at 1501 Almaden Expressway in San Jose were sold by Highridge Costa; Villa Savannah at 4501 Renaissance Drive and Stonegate at 4401 Renaissance Drive, both in San Jose, were sold by Western Community Housing (WCH); and Seasons Senior Apartment Homes at 27271 Paseo Espada in San Juan Capistrano was sold by Linc Housing, property records show.

The specific purchase prices and the dates when each property closed were not immediately available. Representatives for FAH, Highridge Costa, WCH and Linc did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Chris Cruz, Standard’s senior managing director of essential housing, said that the firm acquired the properties via a mixture of financing facilities, tax credit investor partnerships, partnerships with nonprofits, ground-lease buyouts, and loan assumptions with private lenders and government organizations. Further details on those financings were also not immediately available.

“We took control of the real estate by acquiring general and limited partnership interests, including controlling interests of managed tax credit funds with institutional investors. It also included the purchase of various third-party subordinate notes to optimize partnership economics,” Cruz said.

Standard will spend an additional $30 million for capital improvements and deferred maintenance for properties across the portfolio, the firm said. 

Standard Communities, the affordable housing division of Standard Companies, has been expanding rapidly over the past four years, closing strings of nine-figure multifamily acquisitions in major markets in Southern California and beyond.

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.