Originally developed in 1990, Independence Plaza has been an important source of affordable housing for seniors in Alameda, California. However, it faced a major challenge with the looming expiration of a city operating subsidy that would have meant raising rents to prevent a budget deficit.
PROJECT DETAILS
DEVELOPER: Housing Authority of the City of Alameda
GENERAL CONTRACTORS: Athens General Construction and Freestone Reconstruction
MAJOR FUNDERS: City of Alameda; Housing Authority of the City of Alameda; Department of Housing and Urban Development Â
To preserve affordability at the 186-unit community, the Housing Authority of the City of Alameda (AHA) executed the nation’s first acquisition-only Restore-Rebuild transaction, formerly known as Faircloth to RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration), according to officials.
The housing authority had a balance of 120 Faircloth vouchers from when it restructured a public housing development years earlier. The team unlocked those resources to apply the vouchers at Independence Plaza, its single-largest property.
Joshua Altieri
In November 2024, AHA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development initiated the Restore-Rebuild transaction by placing the property into public housing for two days only and then transitioning the property into private housing with project-based vouchers.
Restore-Rebuild deals typically involve the renovation of a property, but the Alameda community was kept in good shape, and some work to the common areas was done in preparation for this transaction.
As a result, officials were able to apply the Restore-Rebuild vouchers without rehabilitation. The new vouchers ensure that rents at 120 apartments will remain affordable for 20 years and seniors will not be displaced. The other units serve those with tenant-based vouchers. AHA further combined the new voucher subsidy with the federal Moving to Work initiative to achieve greater cost effectiveness, say officials.
The $37.5 million transaction allowed AHA to pay off a loan and positions the housing authority to borrow against the property in the future when it does need rehabilitation, according to executive director Vanessa Cooper. “We have created a model that means you can use Restore-Rebuild without deep rehab,” she says. “It’s a preservation tool that will unlock funds that couldn’t have been used otherwise.”
