Baltimore-based Enterprise Homes has taken over The Shelter Group’s portfolio of affordable housing properties.
The acquisition included 4,153 apartments in 43 developments—35 in Maryland, seven in Pennsylvania, and one in Virginia—financed through the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program. Approximately three-quarters of the properties serve seniors, with the remainder targeted to families.
Enterprise Homes, an affordable housing developer affiliated with Enterprise Community Partners, and The Shelter Group, a developer also based in Baltimore, signed a contract in September 2016 and closed the transaction Aug. 1.
Terms of the sale were not released.
“We’re very excited about it. We are very familiar with the people, the product, and the quality work [The Shelter Group] has done over the years. When we heard they were going to put their affordable housing properties up for a competitive bid, we were immediately interested. It’s in our footprint, and it’s ideal for us,” says Chickie Grayson, president and CEO of Enterprise Homes.
Christine Madigan, Enterprise Homes’ executive vice president of development, adds that the acquisition is a move to preserve the portfolio’s affordability for the long term. “If it went to another bidder, it would have been at risk of losing its affordability,” she says. “It was important to us to preserve the affordability of these properties.”
The acquisition triples the number of properties owned by Enterprise Homes. Its portfolio now consists of more than 7,000 homes and rental residences for seniors and families.
It also adds approximately 175 employees to the Enterprise Homes staff.
“We were very fortunate that the property management company just managed these 43 properties, so we could transfer virtually all of the employees to our new property management company, R Home,” says Grayson. “That was the icing on the cake that we ultimately have a seasoned and well-regarded property management company.”
The firm will continue to look at acquiring other properties that are currently affordable or that can be converted to affordable housing. An acquisition of a smaller portfolio of properties in Maryland is in the works.
“We are trying to acquire what we can to preserve affordable housing,” says Grayson.