Member Spotlight: Housing Authority of the City of Alameda

Alameda HA Uses Restore-Rebuild to Preserve Affordable Housing for Seniors

Earlier this year, the Housing Authority of the City of Alameda (AHA) completed a Restore-Rebuild transaction—formerly known as Faircloth to RAD—to preserve 120 units of affordable housing for seniors at Independence Plaza. This is the first-ever Restore-Rebuilt transaction to solely rely on acquisition and preservation of existing housing instead of new construction.

AHA serves the City of Alameda, most of which is located on an island in San Francisco Bay just off the coast from Oakland. The agency had completely repositioned its previous public housing portfolio, and through a prior transaction had an allowance of 120 unused Faircloth units.

Built in 1990, the 186-unit Independence Plaza was facing the impending expiration of a city subsidy that would have made its units unaffordable to the low-income seniors residing in them. To avoid the loss of desperately-needed affordable housing—average rents in Alameda are about $2,500 per unit—the AHA began exploring the Restore-Rebuild program as a preservation tool.

Because the property had been well-maintained, AHA was able to execute the $37.5 million transaction without debt or tax credits, instead drawing on its own funds to acquire the property and complete modest exterior rehabilitation well before the Restore Rebuild transaction was initiated. This allowed there to be minimal disruption to the existing tenants. In addition, the property went into and out of the Public Housing system and converted to PBV all in less than 72 hours. AHA also used its Moving to Work flexibility to supplement the RAD rents in each unit. The 66 units not subsidized through the Restore-Rebuild program will also remain affordable through the standard voucher program and affordability restrictions.