After more than two years, Eden Housing is in the final stages of transitioning South County Housing’s rental portfolio to two new entities with joint representation from both nonprofits’ boards.
Hayward, Calif.–based Eden stepped in to transition South County Housing’s portfolio into its own after the Gilroy-based firm, which serves Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties, suffered setbacks following the economic downturn and the elimination of California’s redevelopment agencies.
The transfer of 23 properties from South County’s 41-project portfolio was completed in 2015, with the remaining properties to be transferred to Eden’s control by June. Several of the aging properties in the deal have needed financial restructuring and renovations as part of the transition plan.
“It was a big year for Eden,” says Linda Mandolini, firm president. “It was a culmination of a lot of years of work.”
Although the company continues to be heavily involved with new construction of family and seniors affordable housing in the Bay Area, it set up an acquisitions team several years ago to look for opportunities in markets where it thought it could be competitive and where it already had a presence.
“We want to be in places where we can buy and hold for long periods of time,” says Mandolini. “This has been a new space for us.”
Last year, the nonprofit expanded into two new regions—Sacramento and San Diego—with the acquisition and preservation of three properties with nearly 700 affordable units.
The acquisition of Savannah at Southport in West Sacramento is Eden’s first foray into the ownership and management of a mixed-income community, with 118 units at 60% or less of the area median income (AMI), 10 units at or below 120% of the AMI, and the remaining 100 units at market rates.
