KeyBank Provides $87M For Related Cos. to Revitalize Cincinnati Affordable Housing

The acquisition and rehabilitation of the Avondale Properties and Alms Hill Apartments will ensure the availability of long-term affordable housing options for the larger Avondale Community

Alms Hill Apartments, Cincinnati, OH

CINCINNATI, OHKeyBank Real Estate Capital and KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment have provided a total of $87 million in financing to Related Companies, for the acquisition and rehabilitation of more than 400 affordable housing units in Cincinnati, OH.

Avondale Properties is a Section 8 portfolio with four residential family developments known as Burton Apartments, Entowne Manor, Founders Home and Georgia Morris, containing 209 units that are scattered along a main thoroughfare in the Avondale neighborhood. Alms Hill Apartments includes one building with 200 affordable units. Related Affordable, the affordable housing division of Related Cos., is the largest preserver of affordable housing in the nation and plans to keep all 409 units as affordable for families earning up to 60% of area median income.

Between the two developments KeyBank provided $21 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity, $38 million in construction financing and $28 million Fannie Mae M-TEB forward-commitments. The tax-exempt bonds were issued by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. KeyBanc Capital Markets underwrote the publicly offered tax-exempt bonds.

“The CDLI team at KeyBank is committed to the construction or preservation of affordable housing options across the country,” says Victoria O’Brien of the CDLI team. “The planned renovation of these properties will meet a critical need in the Cincinnati area by preserving and significantly improving the condition of affordable housing.”

KeyBank’s powerful financing platform makes projects like this possible,” says Dirk Falardeau of the KeyBank Real Estate Capital group. “We are proud to work with best-in-class operator Related, to enable the preservation of much-needed affordable housing options in Cincinnati.”

Both properties are more than 43 years old and Related plans to make renovations to improve the overall quality of life for residents and plans to upgrade access controls and security systems, enhance resident amenities, make upgrades to the elevator and fire alarm systems, replace the boiler systems and improve accessibility access. In-unit renovations will include improvements to the kitchens, bathrooms, flooring and interior doors.

Related Affordable has preserved tens of thousands of affordable housing units across the country and has never taken a single unit to market rate. This is a promise we will once again make to the Cincinnati community for the Avondale Properties and the Alms Hill Apartments,” says David Pearson, senior vice president at Related Affordable. “We are known for our commitment to community building, and because of partners like KeyBank, we are able to provide long-term affordable housing to the thousands of Americans who need it most.”

O’Brien and Kyle Kolesar of Key’s CDLI team, Falardeau of KeyBank Real Estate Capital and Sam Adams of KeyBanc Capital Markets arranged the financing.