Affordable and workforce housing developer and owner Standard Communities is on track for its first billion dollar year.
The company has acquired 12 properties with more than 2,500 units and capitalization approaching $900 million so far this year, and it will cross the $1 billion mark before the end of 2021, according to Jeff Jaeger, co-founder and principal.
The total capitalization of the communities acquired in the first half of this year exceeds the total of all the properties Standard Communities acquired in 2019 and 2020 combined.
“It’s riding upon the national framework that we’ve set up to be able to deploy capital in the affordable housing space across the country and across all spectrum of affordable,” Jaeger tells Affordable Housing Finance.
The recent acquisitions include the 357-unit Union South Bay Apartments in Carson, California. Done in collaboration with the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, the deal, which has a capitalization of $220 million, converts a market-rate apartment community into housing for residents earning between 80% and 120% of the area median income.
Earlier this year, Standard Communities also acquired the 300-unit Bridgeview Village Apartments, the largest privately owned affordable community in Charleston, South Carolina.
Standard Communities completed this transaction in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority, and Housing On Merit. With a total capitalization of over $97 million, including a $22 million renovation, the transaction was financed with low-income housing tax credits. All units are covered by a project-based Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract.
The company has focused on acquiring developments that are at risk of losing their affordability and converting to market-rate housing, and it’s been interested in communities that are typically 100 units and larger, according to Jaeger, adding that the company is also starting to build out its new construction platform.
“We’re actively seeking deals across the country on the new development side as well,” he says.
Geographically, the company has targeted states with the highest levels of affordability issues, including California and New York, and it’s starting to look at other markets that have been impacted by in-migration due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including Florida and Texas, according to Jaeger.
“The U.S. is suffering a severe shortage of housing. The 2020 Census confirmed as much, showing that the number of housing units grew at half the rate of the previous decade. Couple that with the rising income inequality in this country, and you’re left with an accelerating affordable housing crisis,” says Scott Alter, co-founder and principal of Standard Communities.
“We believe everyone, regardless of income level, deserves to have a decent and safe place to call home. The impact of the pandemic and rising housing costs has made the need for our work more important than ever.”
The latest efforts are part of the company’s 50 x 30 initiative, which calls for growing its portfolio to 50,000 units by 2030.
Based in New York and Los Angeles, Standard Communities provides high-quality housing to over 24,000 people across more 65 communities and 11,500 units, spanning 17 states. Standard has completed more than $3 billion of affordable housing acquisitions and rehabilitations nationwide and strives to cultivate long-term public and private partnerships to produce and preserve high-quality, affordable, and environmentally sustainable housing.
