Elizabeth Property Group and funds affiliated with American South Fund Management LLC (ASFM) have partnered to acquire a portfolio of six communities throughout Texas. The partnership bought these LIHTC communities from an undisclosed seller.
The six-property portfolio totals 1,444 units, including the 336-unit Willow Green in Houston, the 232-unit Woodglen Park I & II in Duncanville, the 232-unit Pine Club in Beaumont, the 232-unit Ridgewood West in Huntsville, the 232-unit Saddlewood Club in Bryan and the 180-unit Tealwood Place in Wichita.
The partnership plans to keep the units affordable at the current 60 percent area median income (AMI) threshold through to 2042 and 2043. The new ownership plans to conduct renovations on the communities, including the completion of deferred maintenance, replacing the homes’ flooring, upgrading the exterior and landscaping and applying new paint. According to the partnership, no tenants will be displaced during the renovation process.
Supporting affordable housing in the South
For ASFM, the latest six-community portfolio acquisition follows its strategy of providing capital to low-income multifamily projects throughout several states in the southern U.S. Since 2018, ASFM’s impact funds have made 22 investments throughout the southern U.S., totaling $96 million in equity investment.
ASFM’s investments involve just under 5,000 multifamily units, 91 percent of which are affordable to those making less than 80 percent AMI, Deborah La Franchi, managing partner at ASFM, told Multi-Housing News. Earlier this year, ASFM procured funds for the acquisition of a 429-unit affordable townhome community in Wilmington, N.C.
La Franchi also told MHN that eight of ASFM’s 22 investments were located in Texas. The firm also previously invested in Friedrich Lofts, a former 800,000-square-foot industrial complex in San Antonio that’s being redeveloped as a 347-unit multifamily community. Friedrich Lofts is a public-private partnership with the San Antonio Housing Trust Public Facility Corp. and will reserve half of the units for those making less than 80 percent AMI and 14 units for those making 60 percent AMI.
