Housing Diversity Corp. Secures $67M for L.A. Affordable Housing Project
The capital stack includes $35 million from United Way for the South Park ‘micro-housing’ development
By Greg Cornfield March 1, 2024 9:57 am
reprints
Housing Diversity Corporation (HDC) has landed more funding for a nearly finished affordable housing project near Downtown Los Angeles.
The company announced it secured a $34.9 million loan from United Way of Greater L.A. and a $13.6 million equity investment from Arctaris Impact Investors to build the 227-unit Liv DTLA. That adds to an original investment of $10 million raised for the eight-story project through crowdfunding platform Crowdstreet and $8 million of equity from high-net-worth individual investors.
“These partnerships reflect and reinforce our mission to create healthy, diverse neighborhoods through housing that contributes to the greater good,” Brad Padden, HDC founder and CEO, said in a statement. “They provide a stable financial foundation for Liv DTLA and add to HDC’s substantial strategic partnerships designed to address the challenges of housing scarcity for low- to moderate-income households on the West Coast.”
The latest funding comes almost two years after the same project secured $41.1 million from Lument Real Estate Capital.
The development is 85 percent complete at 1411 South Flower Street in the South Park neighborhood near the Pico Boulevard Metro station and the Los Angeles Convention Center. It will be 96,355 square feet on a 15,517-square-foot lot.
The project features market-rate and affordable studio units, of which 25 are designated for extremely low-income households through L.A.’s Transit-Oriented Communities program, which allows higher-density development for building units near public transportation stops. Liv DTLA also taps into federal opportunity zone tax breaks, which allow investors to defer taxes on capital gains.
Additionally, 66 units are projected to accept federal housing choice vouchers.
It was the third “micro-housing” project from HDC, which has similar developments nearby, with units averaging 328 square feet.
“United Way of Greater Los Angeles is proud to provide below-market financing to this project during these challenging times of high interest rates,” said Elise Buik, president and CEO of United Way of Greater L.A. “The lower cost of capital and streamlining of sources allows HDC to offer affordable rents to the Los Angeles community.”
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
