Standard Communities, the affordable housing division of Standard Companies, has completed a $31.2 million transaction to preserve Villa Raymond Apartments in downtown Pasadena, CA as senior  affordable housing.

Originally constructed in the late 1920s, Villa Raymond Apartments consists of 61 rent-subsidized apartments for elderly residents. This transaction was financed with Tax-Exempt bonds through the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) and federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits provided by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC).

With this transaction, Standard has now created or preserved approximately 2,600 units of affordable housing in California.

“We appreciate the efforts of the members of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and State Treasurer Fiona Ma and her staff, who worked tirelessly to create and refine the regulatory framework for housing bond applications in a time of record demand on state resources. This project highlights the importance of ensuring that there is an adequate amount of bond volume cap allocated for the long-term preservation of affordable housing that uses federal Section 8 rental assistance to support California’s families, persons with disabilities, and senior households,” said Jeffrey Jaeger, Principal and Co-Founder of Standard.

Completed in partnership with HUD, CDLAC, TCAC, and the nonprofit Housing On Merit, this $31.2 million transaction will preserve the affordability of all 61 units at Villa Raymond for the next 55 years. A comprehensive renovation program will invest more than $5 million to modernize unit interiors, upgrade building systems, improve accessibility features and enhance the property’s amenity spaces. In addition, residents will now have access to a comprehensive suite of services and programming, such as health and wellness programs, at no cost.

“With the significant cost of new construction in Southern California, the importance of being able to preserve existing affordable housing units at communities such as Villa Raymond is critical to the economic and social health of Pasadena and the Los Angeles metropolitan area in general,” said Geoff Moen, Director of West Coast Production for Standard Communities.

“There is a shortage of affordable senior apartments in the Los Angeles area, and we believe everyone, regardless of age or income level, deserves to have a place to call home. Standard is pleased to provide beautiful, safe homes for seniors in Pasadena,” said Robert Koerner, Chief Investment Officer of Standard Communities.

Founded in 2008, Los Angeles and New York based Standard Communities is the affordable housing division of Standard Companies. Standard Companies has a portfolio of over 13,000 apartment units, including more than 9,200 affordable units, and has completed more than

$2.4 billion of affordable housing acquisitions and rehabilitations nationwide. These transactions include the largest tax-exempt bond and LIHTC financed affordable housing transactions in the respective histories of Illinois, California, and Washington, D.C.

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