Hamilton Zanze Sells Portland Affordable Senior Housing

Woodspring Apartments. Image courtesy of Hamilton Zanze

Hamilton Zanze has sold Woodspring Apartments, an 11-building 172-unit affordable senior housing community located in Tigard, Ore. to the Housing Authority of Washington County. According to public records and reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting, the property sold for $46.6 million, subject to a $25 million loan from Oregon Housing and Community Services, a $19.5 million bank loan and $4 million loan from the county’s housing authority.

The Housing Authority’s purchase of Woodspring Apartments was motivated by its plan to preserve the entirety of the community’s affordability following the December 2020 expiration of its 30-year period of regulation under the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Property rents will remain at a range affordable to its age 55 years and older residents who earn 60 percent or below the area median income.

Had the purchase not taken place, Hamilton Zanze would have been able to increase rents to market rate within the year, according to the OPB report. Washington County records show that the negotiations for the purchase took two years.

Here to stay

The club house at Woodspring Apartments. Image courtesy of Hamilton Zanze

Woodspring Apartments were built in 1991, five years after the creation of the LIHTC program. Hamilton Zanze bought the property from its previous owner, Transpacific Apartments, in 2015 for $22 million, according to Yardi Matrix. The purchase was subject to a $12.1 million loan from Fannie Mae. Mission Rock Residential served as the property’s manager and will continue to do so as the Housing Authority assumes ownership.

The community sit on 8.2 acres and offer two-bedroom units averaging 1,032 square feet and $1,600 in monthly rent, Yardi Matrix data shows. As part of the initiative’s “safe harbor” guidance, residents were able to pay affordable rents for a period of three years following the expiration of the property’s regulation under the tax codes.

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Apartment amenities at Woodspring Apartments include Smart Home-enabled technology and private patios or balconies with select units including walk-in closets and pre-furnished arrangements. Across the community residents have access to a swimming pool, fitness center, club house and private parking.

Located at 16100 SW 113^th Ave., Woodspring Apartments sit 9 miles south of Downtown Portland. Locally, the community is surrounded by parks and nature preserves and is 0.5 miles east of a nearby shopping district.

Affordability in the City of Roses

As other communities built under similar circumstances to Woodspring lose their affordability mandates the city’s pipeline has tried to keep pace. As of April 2023, roughly a third of the city’s 772 delivered units were designated as affordable, while around 35 percent of the pipeline of 11,949 units classify as such, according to a June 2023 Yardi Matrix report.

In May, BRIDGE Housing added a further 178 units to the city’s affordable stock with the opening of Waterleaf, a property with units reserved for residents earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income.