Standard Communities Enters Minnesota
The company picked up an affordable senior community in Stillwater.
Standard Communities has purchased Rivertown Commons, a 96-unit fully affordable senior housing community in Stillwater, Minn. The company’s first Minnesota investment is capitalized at $27.8 million.
Standard completed the acquisition in partnership with the Washington County Community Development Agency and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, while Huntington Bank provided the tax credit equity.
Dominium sold the asset, while the Washington County Community Development Agency provided $14.5 million in financing, according to Yardi Matrix data. The property is subject to Section 42 LIHTC provisions, tax credits applied 2007 and rent restricted through 2037, the same source shows.
Rivertown Commons serves seniors and individuals with disabilities earning up to 60 percent of the area median income. Standard will preserve and extend the property’s affordability.
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The new owner also plans to implement a $9 million renovation of Rivertown Commons, adding a second elevator and modernizing building systems. A 100-kW solar panel system will produce 112.5 MWh of clean energy annually, reducing the carbon footprint by 86.6 tons of CO2e per year. Additionally, Standard will appoint a Resident Services Coordinator to develop and manage a range of resident services and programs.
Completed in 1978, Rivertown Common underwent a renovation in 2007. The seven-story building incorporates one- and two-bedroom floorplans ranging between 500 and 730 square feet. Common-area amenities include a game room, a library, laundry facilities, a community room, controlled access and approximately 50 parking spaces.
Located at 212 2nd St. N., the community is within the Twin Cities’ Stillwater submarket. Rivertown Commons is near St. Croix Scenic Byway, which allows easy access to the Minneapolis metropolitan area.
A comprehensive affordable portfolio
Standard has a portfolio of over 20,000 apartment units and $4.4 billion in assets under management across 17 states and Washington, DC. The firm has recently purchased a 100-unit, fully affordable community in Shelby, N.C. Capitalization of the deal amounted to $16.4 million.
In a public-private partnership, Pacific Southwest Development Corp. and Standard acquired six fully affordable communities last year, encompassing 407 units, in Los Angeles County. The transaction has a total capitalization of approximately $122 million. Five out of the six properties offer affordable senior housing.
