Blackstone Provides $48M LIHTC Funding in Phoenix – Multifamily Real Estate News
Blackstone is providing $48 million of tax credit equity to support development of Aviara Flats, a 372-unit affordable housing community being built in Phoenix by Dominium and Blackstone’s affordable housing portfolio company April Housing.
The Aviara Flats partnership between April Housing and Dominium is April’s first ground-up development.
Aviara Flats is located at 7800 W. Encanto Blvd., about a 15-minute drive from downtown Phoenix. The development will have three phases of delivery with the first 84 units completed in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter of this year. According to Dominium, 132 units will deliver in the first quarter of 2024 with the remaining 156 units slated for completion in summer 2024.
The developer broke ground on Aviara Flats in June and is now working with April to complete the community that will include a variety of amenities such as a gym, playground, clubroom, pool and theater. Units will be available to households earning at or below 60 percent of the average median income and will have one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts.
Dominium, a leading national owner, developer and manager of affordable housing, announced plans for Aviara Flats and the 196-unit Casa Azure, located at 7750 W. Encanto Blvd., in Phoenix, in the spring. Casa Azure is set for completion in winter 2023.
Dominium said the expected development costs for both projects totaled about $203 million. Earlier this year the developer stated the financing included tax-exempt construction loans from Deutsche Bank, publicly offered equity bridge bonds originated by Colliers Securities, Freddie Mac forward tax-exempt loans serviced by JLL Real Estate Capital and investments in the federal low-income housing tax credits by Polaris Capital Investments. The Arizona Department of Housing assisted with the allocation of the low-income housing tax credits and the Arizona State Housing Trust Fund provided soft funding. The Arizona Industrial Authority acted as the issuer of the tax-exempt private activity bonds.
The April LIHTC investment is in addition to all the other funding sources announced in the spring.
April Housing Launched
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust formed April in February to focus on affordable housing across the United States and named Alice Carr as CEO. Carr has more than 25 years of experience in affordable housing, mostly recently as head of JPMorgan Chase’s Community Development Banking. April, based in Los Angeles, provides solutions and capital to create and preserve affordable housing, including assets within its own portfolio. The portfolio was seeded with 90,000 units of affordable housing acquired by Blackstone in its acquisitions of American International Group and The Cornerstone Group in late 2021. The properties are in major markets including Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas; Denver; Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Los Angeles and San Francisco.
An April spokesperson told Multi-Housing News the firm has not made major additions to the portfolio since the initial acquisitions of the AIG and Cornerstone portfolios.
Carr said in a prepared statement the partnership with Dominium represents an important milestone in the firm’s mission to crate quality affordable housing. She noted it is April’s first direct LIHTC investment and that they look forward to developing more solutions and devoting more capital to expanding the national affordable housing supply.
Mark Moorhouse, Dominium managing partner & executive vice president, said in a prepared statement that the firm was excited to work with Blackstone and April on a shared commitment to address the affordable housing shortage.
Dominium Projects
In addition to Aviara Flats and Casa Azure, Dominium’s other Arizona projects include Copper Cove apartments in Tolleson, Ariz., and Vista Ridge, also in Phoenix. The company started construction on the 308-unit Vista Ridge in May 2021. It is slated for delivery in the summer of 2023. Vista Ridge is the first metro Phoenix affordable housing development for Dominium.
This past August, Dominium began construction on Sandpiper Glen, a 288-unit development for low-income seniors in Orlando, Fla. That project is also receiving LIHTC financing. It is the company’s fourth community to be developed in Florida.
Dominium also acquires assets, including a 144-unit affordable community in the Nashville area that was purchased from Greystone Property Management in May.
