TIAA-CREF and Jonathan Rose Cos. have launched a national fund dedicated to "green" and affordable mixed-income multifamily housing development.
The Rose Affordable Housing Preservation Fund's $51.6 million seed fund has been jointly provided by TIAA-CREF and Jonathan Rose Cos. and will be used to acquire properties in high demand urban markets across the country.
TIAA-CREF has also committed $700 million to the TIAA-CREF Social Impact Portfolio, designed to preserve and recapitalize affordable properties that foster diverse communities, said Rekha Unnithan, a director with the TIAA Responsible Investment.
"In today's heated apartment rental market, preservation of well-located affordable housing that is at risk of becoming market rate is critical to the health of our communities," Jonathan F.P. Rose, founder of Jonathan Rose Cos., said in a joint press release Thursday. At the same time affordable housing investments "can provide a great opportunity to generate attractive, low-risk returns," he said.
Jonathan Rose Cos. will serve as fund manager, and the company, which specializes in environmentally friendly urban real estate investments, also brings to the partnership years of experience as a mixed-income affordable housing investor.
"The fund is pinpointing projects and portfolios from $25 million to $50 million of total capitalization, with a special focus on mixed-income properties, Low Income Housing Tax Credit and Section 8 properties, and other properties with expiring affordability restrictions," explained Nathan Taft, director of acquisitions for Jonathan Rose Cos.
The fund's focus will be on some of the country's largest metro areas including Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Its goal is to risk-adjusted returns with an environmental mission, according to the release. It will not be offered to outside investors.
"We have a number of promising projects already in the pipeline," Taft said.
