JV Pays $166M for Affordable Housing Portfolio
A trio of developers picked up more than 1,200 affordable housing units in the Bronx borough of New York City.
The Bronx, N.Y. Image via Wikimedia Commons
A partnership between LIHC Investment Group, Belveron Partners and Camber Property Group has acquired an affordable housing portfolio in the Bronx, N.Y., totaling 1,275 units for $166 million from Cammeby’s International Group.
The purchase includes the assumption of existing debt. Financing for the deal was provided by loans from New York State Housing Finance Agency and Freddie Mac, which were serviced by Citibank and JLL Capital Markets.
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The deal comes several months after Invesco and L+M Development Partners teamed up to buy more than 2,800 market-rate apartments in Manhattan for $1.2 billion. The properties had previously been part of the Mitchell-Lama program but left in 2005.
The Bronx Park portfolio consists of eight residential buildings within the Mitchell-Lama program, an affordable housing framework started in the 1950’s to provide housing to the middle class. The properties in the portfolio were built in the 1970’s and renovated in 2014.
It isn’t the first time Belveron Partners and Camber Property Group have teamed up on an affordable housing buy. In October 2018, the venture acquired a three-building portfolio of Section 8 properties in upper Manhattan for $60 million.
“Critical Infrastructure”
Spread across the neighborhoods of Crotona, Mt. Hope and Fordham Heights, phase one of the portfolio houses 408 units at 2111 Southern Blvd. and 800-820 E. 180th St. Phase two includes 536 units at 1880 Valentine Ave., 2000 Valentine Ave., 1985 Webster Ave., and 2100 Tiebout Ave. The third phase consists of 331 units at 355-365 E. 184th St. and 333 E. 181st St.
Ten commercial spaces are located within the buildings, which are designated affordable to low-income families earning 60 percent of the area median income. The new ownership plans to make improvements to operational aspects of the portfolio with a focus on the long-term viability of the properties, as the city grapples with an affordable housing crisis.
Louis Harrison, partner at Belveron Partners, said in prepared remarks that affordable properties like the Bronx Park portfolio are part of the “critical infrastructure” of a healthy city.
