WASHINGTON, DC – District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT), North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), developers, community leaders and city officials attended a ribbon-cutting on May 10 to celebrate the opening of Portner Flats. The development brings 96 units of affordable housing to the well loved U Street Corridor in Northwest. 

Portner Flats is an eight-tale, 96-unit, 100% affordable housing development built on the site of the dilapidated Portner Place development at 1440 V Street NW.  It was developed by a partnership between Somerset Development, the Jonathan Rose Companies, and New Community Partners. The high-rise building offers affordable two and three-bedroom units along with studio and one-bedroom units.

The HIT, a nearly $6 billion mutual fund that invests union and public employee pension capital into union-built, affordable housing, bought $24 million in construction securities to help finance the project, and the District government played a major role. 

“We know that when we add housing units, we make DC more affordable, and when we preserve housing units, we make DC more affordable – this project does both,” said Mayor Bowser. “As the District continues to grow, we will continue making the investments necessary to keep Washington, DC affordable for residents in all eight wards. The Portner Flats project is an extraordinary model of how we can use public-private partnerships to strengthen our community and make new opportunities for Washingtonians.” 

The D.C. Housing Finance Agency and the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development aided in the financing and acquisition of the property. The District also rezoned the site for increased density, enabling the project to preserve the existing affordable housing and double the total number of affordable units. 

Eric W. Price, Executive Vice President at the HIT and former DC Deputy Mayor of Economic Development under Mayor Anthony Williams, noted that in today’s financial environment it takes creative solutions to fund affordable housing. “It is so vital to place both public and private resources together to fund projects that support families and neighborhoods,” Mr. Price said. “And it helps to have city leaders, like Mayor Bowser, and the team she has assembled, to leverage their resources to support affordable housing.”

While overseeing development for the District from 1999 to 2004, Mr. Price was instrumental in transforming neighborhoods throughout the City and established funding for the City’s Housing Production Trust which has provided over $1 billion in financing to affordable housing projects since its inception. 

“As we experience economic growth we must continue to provide housing for all residents,” Mr. Price said. “Long-time residents and their families must be part of the future.”

Brent Booker, NABTU’s Secretary Treasurer, was a key partner in ensuring this project was built by union hands.  

“The two hundred craftworkers on this project made contributions into their pension funds, which can then make investments into the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust so that we can build more projects like this,” said Mr. Booker.  “So to the residents returning home, know that you are living in a building where the highest skilled, best trained workers in the world built this building for you.”

Jim Campbell, founding principal at Somerset Development, praised the union workforce which delivered the project “ahead of schedule and under budget.”

“This has been a dream come right for the residents, and for the developers, funders and city officials, who have been committed to making this project a reality,” Mr. Campbell said, citing the difficulty in producing affordable housing in urban settings. “This is a milestone. We have proven that it can be done, that we can provide affordable housing for families in a vibrant, urban neighborhood. Now we must get together and do it again, and again.”

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WELLINGTON, FL – Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced that it closed an investment sale for The Quaye at Wellington (“The Quaye”), a 350-unit, Class AAA multifamily community in The Village of Wellington, Florida. Delivered in 2017 with “Award Winning” quality, the newly constructed property was awarded the 2017 “Best Green Project of the Year” accolade from South Florida Business Journal as well as “Best Amenities” in the Southeast Florida Circle of Winners contest. The asset has also achieved a National Association of Home Builders’ Gold Standard certification for a green project.

The Walker & Dunlop Investment Sales team, led by Greg Engler, Chris Conklin, and Roberto Pesant, represented HG Management, LLC in the sale of the asset to Stockbridge Capital Group. Mr. Conklin remarked, “HG Management continues to raise the bar as it relates to delivering the highest quality product in South Florida. This team has closed three new South Florida apartment development transactions for HG Management, totaling nearly $350,000,000 in sales volume. The Quaye represents one of the finest multifamily garden communities delivered to date.”

Charles Funk and Jeff Meehan with HG Management, LLC commented, “Sustainable development is the future and we are glad to have had such a passionate development team work on this one-of-a-kind project.”

Situated on 30 acres of land with four on-site lakes, The Quaye boasts a 10,538 square-foot clubhouse with a 2,911 square-foot fitness center, multi-purpose sports court, golf and sports simulator, boxing ring, clubroom with four 65-inch televisions, coffee and juice bar, business center, and state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen. Other community amenities include a jogging path throughout 3.56 acres of preserves, a 3,000 square-foot dog park, and pool area consisting of an Olympic-style lap pool and gazebo with fully equipped kitchen. The community was developed with 70 percent townhome units that include direct-access garages with fully-equipped electric car charging outlets.

The Quaye is ideally located in the heart of The Village of Wellington, a premier residential neighborhood with one of the highest income levels in Florida. The town is set in an attractive natural environment with a wealth of recreational, cultural, shopping, and entertainment venues such as world-renowned equestrian centers, the Mall at Wellington Green, the Gardens Mall, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, newly announced Sprouts Farmers Market, Fresh Market, public parks, and nationally celebrated golf resorts, country clubs, and spas. The Quaye also benefits from a host of walkable retail and restaurants.

Located in South Florida, where Walker & Dunlop’s Investment Sales team has closed over $1.5 billion in sales over the last 30 months, the Village of Wellington is minutes from I-95 and the Florida Turnpike, providing quick access to appealing amenities, “A” rated schools, attractive neighborhoods, and employment hubs. The town shares a boundary with Everglades National Park and is internationally recognized as the Equestrian Capital of the World.

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BALTIMORE, MD – Real estate investment firm Hamilton Zanze (HZ) has bought the 404-unit Kingscrest Apartments in Frederick, Maryland, entering the state for the first time. The buy, brokered by Transwestern Mid-Atlantic Multifamily Group, closed May 10. 

The 356,632-square-foot community sits on just under 25 acres and had an occupancy rate of 94.6% at the opening of 2018. Though this is the first property the company has bought in Maryland, it comes on the heels of acquisitions in Virginia and Connecticut, signaling a strong expansion on investment into the Northeast for HZ. 

“Kingscrest is a right value-add opportunity in a fantastic submarket, allowing us to further expand our growing presence on the East Coast,” said David Nelson, managing director of acquisitions for Hamilton Zanze. “We believe Kingscrest presented an opportunity to buy a fantastic asset in a stable market, with strong cash flow. We are plotting an extensive interior renovation campaign, resulting in a strategically positioned asset in a fabulous location.”

Constructed in phases between 1990 and 1992, Kingscrest Apartments is located at 6959 Castle Ct, and offers one- and two-bedroom units. Community amenities include a pool, dog park, playground, barbecue area, tennis and volleyball courts, and a clubhouse for residents with both a business and fitness center. The garden apartments each include bay windows with window seats, a patio or balcony, walk-in closets, recessed lighting, and full-sized washers and dryers. 

HZ plans to do a $4.2 million capital improvements program that will include upgrades to the community amenities, such as an expansion of the dog park, and more than $10,000 of improvements to each interior unit, including the addition of new stainless-steel appliances, new fixtures and lighting, new countertops, and more. Property management responsibilities will be transitioned to Mission Rock Residential, a Denver-based company.

Located within the Washington-Arlington-Alexandrea metro area, the region touts one of the nation’s most educated workforces, with roughly 50% of the working age population holding bachelor’s degrees or higher. Frederick County is home to the second largest concentration of biotech companies in the State of Maryland, many of which are located in I-270 tech corridor. The market also offers simple transportation access to both the Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas.

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