Greystone Housing Impact Investors has announced a joint venture with BlackRock Impact Opportunities (BIO) to invest in loans that will finance the construction or rehabilitation of affordable multifamily housing properties.
Citing a national shortage of more than 7 million affordable housing units for renters with extremely low incomes, the partners say they aim to provide construction financing solutions that increase the supply of affordable multifamily housing units nationwide. The joint venture plans to make available approximately $500 million of gross financing for properties in undercapitalized communities, according to Greystone Housing Impact Investors, also known as the Partnership.
“We are pleased to partner with BlackRock Impact Opportunities to scale and expand our construction loan investments portfolio,” said Kenneth C. Rogozinski, CEO of the Partnership. “The strategy and objectives of BlackRock Impact Opportunities are closely aligned with those of the Partnership, and we believe that together we can deploy capital to increase the availability of affordable multifamily housing in underserved areas while achieving attractive risk-adjusted returns for our respective investors.”
Brian Mwarania, senior investor for BIO, said, “We are proud to partner with Greystone Housing Impact Investors. Our new joint venture aims to address the acute shortage of high-quality affordable housing across the U.S. through innovative construction financing solutions. We look forward to working closely with the Partnership to structure compelling investments that achieve our clients’ social impact objectives.”
The Partnership has deep investment experience in direct affordable multifamily lending, including investments in construction loans that position affordable properties for permanent agency financing, such as Freddie Mac’s Tax Exempt Loan (TEL) program. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Partnership will be the joint venture’s managing member, responsible for identifying, evaluating, underwriting, and closing investments, subject to BIO’s review and approval under the terms and conditions of the Joint Venture.
Raymond James served as the transaction adviser to the Partnership, while Ballard Spahr served as the legal adviser. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel served as the legal adviser to BIO.