Nuveen Acquires 12K-Unit Affordable Housing Portfolio, Mostly in NYC
By Mark Hallum May 9, 2023 5:11 pm
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Nuveen Real Estate has closed a deal to acquire more than 12,000 units of affordable housing, mostly situated in New York City, in what is one of the largest multifamily sales this year
Nuveen, the asset management arm of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, picked up the portfolio of large buildings mainly spread across the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens from affordable housing owner Omni New York, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
Nuveen, which has up to $1.1 trillion assets under management, declined to provide the sale price but said it was part of up to $3 billion in new acquisitions in its pipeline. That contributes to a goal of raising the value of Nuveen’s affordable housing assets under management to $6.4 billion.
“The acquisition strongly advances our ability to promote greater financial inclusivity, and health and wellness in communities that have lacked meaningful and lasting investment,” Nadir Settles, global head of impact investing at Nuveen, said in a statement. “Our strong commitment to affordable housing — and the communities where we are operating — is also a strong commitment to our clients, who are long-term supporters of this strategy.”
The portfolio — which has properties in Maryland, Massachusetts and Texas — also includes existing land and rundown buildings that could yield an additional 8,000 units after development, according to the WSJ.
But Nuveen has a loftier goal in the acquisition than just growth, according to the company,
The acquisition was also done in the interest of preserving affordable housing and keeping those units that could possibly turn into market-rate available to residents earning less than 60 percent of area median income, according to Nuveen.
Omni — co-founded by former baseball star Maurice “Mo” Vaughn — compiled the portfolio as part of the 94 projects the New York-based owner acquired, renovated or built in 2004. Those projects involved more than 19,000 units.
Omni did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
