Portfolio Partner Profile

Keeping Homes Affordable

Keeping Homes Affordable is a $50 million national affordable housing preservation financing facility managed by the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF). The fund’s goal is to provide acquisition financing for non-profit and mission driven for-profit developers to acquire and preserve affordable multifamily projects and address three main impact goals:

Facilitate the preservation and recapitalization of existing affordable multifamily housing;
Facilitate the acquisition of multifamily affordable housing properties by qualified operators to encourage long term stewardship and attentive ownership; and
Make strategic physical improvements and renovations to the properties that will benefit both the owners and the tenants.

Keeping Homes Affordable is a collaboration among LIIF as the lead lender, Calvert Impact, and Arnold Ventures, builds on the success of LIIF’s two previous affordable housing preservation funds, FPAC 1 and FPAC 2. Calvert Impact’s $35 million commitment in senior financing for the Keeping Homes Affordable facility enables LIIF to extend more flexible acquisition financing terms with a nimble execution for developers, as well as the upfront certainty of our partner capital for each project. Keeping Homes Affordable will further LIIF’s mission to advance racial equity by generating equitable outcomes and economic mobility in the communities it serves.

Founded in San Francisco in 1984, LIIF’s mission is: “Everyone in the United States should benefit from living in a community of opportunity, equity and well-being. LIIF mobilizes capital and partners to achieve this vision for people and communities.” LIIF is driving $5 billion in investments over the next decade to advance racial equity. Calvert Impact has a longstanding partnership with LIIF beginning in 2000 and is proud to support them in this next iteration and preserve affordable housing opportunities across the US.

Calvert Impact would like to thank the pro-bono counsel at Dechert LLP for their support with the Keeping Homes Affordable facility.

Featured Impact Story

Impact Story

The Oxford Villages Townhomes

The Oxford Villages Townhomes is a resident-led cooperative located in Atlanta, GA in a historically underinvested neighborhood. The complex was originally constructed in 1974 and is now a 188-unit 100% affordable housing community and home to many extremely low-income residents. The financing will enable the property to repay existing debt and line up a long-term financing solution to keep the property affordable for its residents. The financing will also allow the property to undertake some light in-unit rehabilitation and maintenance projects. While the area around the Oxford Villages Townhomes is experiencing ongoing displacement, LIIF’s loan will contribute to the preservation and stabilization of the residents’ apartment community.

Photo credit: The Oxford Villages Townhomes

Impact Story

Arborside Apartment Homes

Arborside - Photos Page3

Arborside Apartment Homes is a 144-unit garden-style apartment complex built in 1971 and located in Decatur, Georgia. The units span across 44 buildings offering one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom layouts. This is a naturally occurring affordable housing property and the sponsor intends to keep rents affordable while improving the quality of the property and its housing units. The project sponsor, Lemor Development Group, LLC (Lemor), is a for-profit certified Minority Business Enterprise based in New York, NY with the mission to reduce affordable housing shortages, positively impact the lives of tenants, and become an inspiration to growing minority firms as a diverse and socially aware developer.

Impact Story

Kenyon House

Kenyon House KHA

The Kenyon House is a 49-unit building developed in 1925 and located in Columbia Heights, Washington DC. The loan will allow for the rehabilitation and reconfiguration of nine units, which will each undergo the addition of one bedroom. Once construction is complete, 50% of the units in the complex will be restricted to households with incomes at or below 80% Area Medium Income. The Columbia Heights neighborhood has experienced rapid gentrification over the last 20 years and the value of single-family housing has more than doubled in value over that time. The loan will help to preserve affordable housing units over the next two decades.

Impact Story

The Fifth Ward Jarmese Apartments

keeping-homes-affordable-p2

Jarmese Apartments is a 70-unit complex and a naturally occurring affordable housing property with over 75% of its residents using tenant-based housing vouchers. The financing allowed Fifth Ward, a Houston-based non-profit housing provider, to acquire the property and develop a long-term financing solution to maintain the property’s affordability for its residents. The property was built in 1962 and renovated in 2015-2017 with updated electrical and plumbing systems, as well as in-unit maintenance and the installation of a communal laundry room. The apartment complex is located on the south side of the South Union neighborhood in Houston, TX. Nearby, is a community health clinic which provides a full range of health care services that are accessible to the residents. There will also be housing counselors to provide financial resources to the building tenants. With the rapid gentrification of Houston neighborhoods, this project will help to protect the existing residents from displacement due to increasing housing costs.

Kathy Flanagan Payton of the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation in Houston, Texas said of Keeping Homes Affordable (KHA), "I'm excited that this endeavor [KHA] gives me an opportunity to level the playing field and have access to the capital we need to redevelop our community."

Photo Credit: Jarmese Apartments

Impact Story

Coachella Housing Project

Coachella Housing Project KHA

The Coachella Valley Apartments is a 30-unit multifamily development constructed in 1976 in Riverside County, California. Over 71% of households in the city of Coachella earn below $60,000 annually. The project sponsor, Community Housing Opportunity Corporation (CHOC), an economic and community development organization, intends to lease the apartments to households at or below 80% AMI (less than $63,400) given the high percentage of residents that fall into that category. The loan will help CHOC to preserve and expand the number of affordable units available in the area.