Mission-Driven Nonprofits Partner to Preserve Affordability of Magnolia Plaza Senior Apartments
Amid Housing Affordability Crisis, Rising Rents Leave Low-Income Seniors on Fixed-Incomes Susceptible To Housing Insecurity
June 7, 2022 – CPC Mortgage Company, a mission-driven nonprofit mortgage lender, and BRIDGE Housing, a leading nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing in California, Oregon and Washington, announced $19.4 million in financing to refinance and preserve the Magnolia Plaza Senior Apartments. Located at 630 Baden Avenue in South San Francisco, CA, the property provides 125 units of affordable housing for low-income senior citizens.
According to reports, the senior citizen population is one of the fastest growing in the country, with seniors facing higher cost burdens as they age. With many seniors living on lower, fixed incomes, they often face a difficult choice of either paying the rising costs of rent or paying for other necessities, putting them at increased risk of housing instability.
“As a nonprofit lender, we look at deals through a lens of social impact. Every borrower and every transaction has the potential to help us continue to invest in communities,” said John Cannon, President, CPC Mortgage Company. “Partnering with a company like BRIDGE Housing that shares our values and is committed to lifting up the communities they serve was a natural fit. We’re proud that BRIDGE chose CPC Mortgage Company to provide the financing that allows them continue their work of bringing safe, quality affordable housing to the communities they serve.”
“For seniors, particularly those with lower incomes, it makes all the difference in the world to have a stable, affordable home,” said Ken Lombard, President and CEO of BRIDGE. “We’re grateful for the innovative partnership with CPC Mortgage Company, which will help us preserve and enhance Magnolia Plaza’s affordability for the long term.”
“It was a pleasure to work with Jonathan Stern and BRIDGE’s acquisition and capital market teams to help facilitate the purchase and preservation of this legacy asset,” said David Galst, Vice President and Mortgage Officer at CPC Mortgage Company’s California office. “Complex, affordable transactions with expedited timeframes can be particularly challenging to get to the closing table. The partnership between CPC Mortgage Company and BRIDGE, two nonprofits with extensive experience in affordable housing, helped make the process and execution of both the bridge and perm loan much smoother.”
Built in 1988, the property is a 125‐unit, garden‐style apartment building that is age restricted to seniors age 62 and over. While there is a current requirement that 63 units be income-restricted to residents with incomes at or below 80% area median income, BRIDGE has initially restricted 84 of the units to 80% AMI or lower, and expects to be able to increase this number going forward.
The complex provides elevators, laundry facilities, community room, library, computer lab, and landscaped garden walkways. Magnolia Plaza Senior Apartments is adjacent to an architecturally distinguished surplussed school building, which was renovated by the City of South San Francisco as a senior center for the residents of both the development and the larger community. The complex includes a historic reconstruction of the city’s original one-room schoolhouse as a project office and community room.
BRIDGE was a member of the original enterprise that constructed Magnolia Plaza Senior Apartments in 1988, and recently purchased the property from the remaining partners. The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), the nonprofit parent company of CPC Mortgage Company, extended a $19.4 million bridge loan that was essential to BRIDGE’s acquisition of the property due to an expedited closing timeline and the complex structure of the transaction. The first mortgage financing CPC Mortgage Company is providing via a Freddie Mac Targeted Affordable Housing loan that is refinancing the CPC bridge loan, providing BRIDGE with flexibility to resyndicate the property in the future.
The partnership between BRIDGE and CPC Mortgage Company brings together two unique mission-driven organizations, an owner-investor and a lender, that each focus on creating a social impact through responsible investments in multifamily housing. CPC Mortgage Company provides access to affordable and flexible mortgage products that are critical for multifamily building owners to maintain the physical and financial health, and the affordability of their properties. BRIDGE is a mission-driven nonprofit that pays close attention to the double-bottom line of financial and social return on investment, always in pursuit of quality, quantity, affordability and in keeping with its core values.
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About CPC Mortgage Company LLC
CPC Mortgage Company is a subsidiary of The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), an S&P AA- rated, nonprofit multifamily finance company that has delivered more than $12.5 billion to finance more than 220,000 units of affordable and workforce housing. As the only nonprofit mortgage lender with a suite of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and HUD/FHA nationally licensed products, CPC Mortgage Company brings its flexible capital and unique expertise to borrowers and communities to expand and preserve affordable and workforce housing. Revenue generated from CPC Mortgage Company supports the mission-aligned work of CPC to create a positive social impact through investments in housing and community development. Visit us at communityp.com/mortgagecompany
About BRIDGE Housing
BRIDGE Housing Corporation, a leading nonprofit developer and owner of affordable housing, creates and manages a range of high-quality, affordable homes for families and seniors in California, Oregon and Washington. Since it was founded in 1983, BRIDGE has participated in the development of more than 18,000 homes. For more information, visit www.bridgehousing.com