Synopsis
A Community of Friends (ACOF), a permanent supportive housing agency in Los Angeles, California, worked with NeighbhorWorks Capital (NC) to secure a $1.5M Acquisition Land Loan and $650K Predevelopment Loan (total of $2.15M) to develop Huntington Square Apartments. ACOF’s missions is to end homelessness through quality, supportive housing for people with mental illness.
Challenges & Solutions
Due to the city’s concerns about the use of commercial space, originally included in the development plan, and a change in ACOF’s management team, there were several delays in the project. As a result, ACOF sold the commercial space to Azure Community Development and worked with NC to successfully extend the maturity date for both loans.
| Population served | Formerly homeless individuals, especially veterans |
| Number of apartments | 48 |
| Total development cost | $21,400,000 |
| NC’s leverage | 9.9x |
Benefits
NC’s loans to ACOF resulted in 48 units and 9 for-sale townhomes that are now available to community residents who need affordable living options (all below 60% of the area median income). Thirty-five of the 48 units will provide supportive housing for homeless veterans. Huntington Square Apartments serves as a historic milestone of doubling affordable housing in the city in over 20 years.
“Despite this being a complex loan process, with countless drawbacks from the city of Huntington Park,” said Dora Leong Gallo, President and CEO of ACOF, “NeighborWorks Capital diligently worked with our team to ensure that we could achieve our number one goal – providing housing for the people with mental health challenges.”
