WNC Closes $120M Affordability-Focused Fund

WNC & Associates has wrapped up its WNC Institutional Tax Credit Fund X California Series 21, L.P. (Fund CA21), which includes six multifamily properties across California. The $120 million equity fund, Fund CA21, closed in August.

According to WNC, 77 percent of extremely low-income renter households in California spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing.

“There is a critical need for affordable housing throughout the United States, and the public/private partnership of the low-income housing tax credit program is one of the most important resources to help create affordable housing for seniors and families,” Christine Cormier, executive vice president of investor relations, WNC, told Multi-Housing News.

The fund’s objective is to invest in partnerships or limited liability companies that own apartment communities built or rehabilitated in California for low-income residents. It will include populations with specific needs such as seniors, the visually and hearing impaired, the physically disabled, the formerly homeless, people with special needs and single parents.

The fund enables federal low-income housing tax credits and California state low-income tax credits to be passed through to investors who can then apply them to reduce federal or California tax liabilities as appropriate.

Invested in rehabilitation

Fund CA21 has made six investments representing 831 units. Three of the six properties are situated in Los Angeles and one property each is located in the Santa Clara, San Diego and Santa Barbara counties.

Investments in affordable housing made through the fund encompassed one new construction property and five preservations, including the rehabilitation of Community Preservation Partners’ historic Green Hotel in Old Town Pasadena, Calif., in August.

Built in the 1890s, Green Hotel Apartments is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Pasadena Historic Monument. Located at 50 E. Green St., the 139-unit property is a seven-story mix of studio and one-bedroom units serving seniors earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income.

CPP’s total development investment for the rehabilitation project totals some $100 million, including the purchase price of $54 million and an estimated per-unit renovation cost of $115,000. CPP worked with WNC, among others, on the deal.

Renovations on the historic monument will include restoring the building envelope, installing new flooring, countertops, appliances and lighting and upgrading ADA-accessible units and paths of travel. Wi-Fi will be installed throughout the units. CPP plans to develop a community space that will include a theater, conference rooms, a business center, a multipurpose room and a library. Windows and air conditioning systems will be replaced to look like the original building.

Outside of the fund, WNC is focused on other partnerships and community-focused investments as well. In March, Commonwealth Development Corp., in partnership with WNC and Natives of One Wind Indigenous Alliance Unete, broke ground on Pacific Flats, a 72-unit affordable housing project in Phoenix, Ore. The development aims to serve residents displaced by the Almeda wildfire of 2020 and is scheduled for completion by January 2026. WNC has invested approximately $25.1 million in the project.