Boston Financial Sells Two LIHTC Properties

The 168-unit Taylor Terrace Apartments in Sacramento sold for $45,000 per door and the 52-unit Sunrise Terrace Apartments in Madera sold or $35,000 per door. The new owner of Taylor Terrace is Long Beach, CA-based LINC Housing Corp. The new owner of Sunrise Terrace is a group of private individuals whose agent is listed as Levon Baladjanian, the CFO of Fresno, CA-based apartment manager GSF Properties.

Located near Natomas, Taylor Terrace was built in 1994 at 4058 Taylor Street, which has direct frontage on the I-80 right-of-way. The property offers one, two and three bedroom units; the average unit size is 864 square feet. Community amenities include a swimming pool, clubhouse, gated access, covered parking, playground and laundry center. Occupancy averages 93%.

As part of the acquisition LINC assumed the existing financing, which included a combination of Low Income Housing Tax Credits and assumable debt from California's Department of Housing and Community Development. The LIHTC restriction requires that all units be rented to residents who earn no more than 60% of Area Median Income, adjusted annually through 2023, while an additional overlay requires that 70 units be rented to residents who earn no more than 30% of AMI through 2049.

"Taylor Terrace was a complicated transaction and required cooperation between the buyer, [the state] and the Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency," says ARA principal Dave Fournier. "The buyer's reputation and relationship with the agencies were critical factors in getting the transaction closed."

Sunrise Terrace Apartments was built in 1993 east of Highway 99 at 601 Sunrise Avenue in Madera. The property averages 94% occupancy and consists of two, three and four bedroom units, with the average unit size coming in at 861 square feet. Community amenities include covered parking, a playground, picnic area with grills, clubhouse, centrally located laundry center and mature landscaping. The buyers assumed existing financing carrying a 5.26% interest rate.

"The depressed economic climate has created a dearth of LIHTC investors which required our team to focus on traditional equity investors rather than developers using tax credit equity," Fournier says. "Despite its size the asset received strong interest because of its stable operating history, assumable loan, and market rent advantage. The tax credit rents were below the average for the market. This reduced the risk for investors in a market where there was concern that rents could fall."