18 December 2018

Flash-Back To Downtown Real Estate Deals: Here's Courtyard Towers

Hardly a year after Valley Metro Light Rail Service extended into the Main Street Central Business District, some dealmakers in a partnership made their big move to acquire the highest building here in downtown - it's the one you at the upper-hand far left in this blog's header image that dominates the usual down-low downtown city landscape with one-story commercial properties all around it.
It's a drab unremarkable utilitarian architectural statement to say the least.  T years it fetched the highest price ever paid for pre-existing residential housing: $20,864,569 or about $119,000 per unit.
It's as close to high-rise living that residents can get. It's not luxury above-market rate housing and probably not affordable either.
The deal went down before Opportunity Zones. A rich history for sure.Greystone Real Estate Advisors Closes $21M Sale of 175-unit Mesa, AZ
Seniors Housing Community
September 8, 2015
Category: Deals 
"Greystone announced its Real Estate Advisors group has closed the sale of Courtyard Towers in Mesa, AZ for $20,864,569. Sierra Capital purchased the seniors housing property from Harrison Street Real Estate Capital on June 30.
Courtyard Towers is a 175-unit independent living, assisted living and memory care community in operation since 1997. Originally built in 1985 and converted to seniors housing 12 years later, the property offers 22 independent living units, 123 assisted living units, and 30 memory care units serving the Mesa, AZ region. Cody Tremper, a Managing Director of Greystone Real Estate Advisors, led the sale for Harrison Street Real Estate Capital.
“Courtyard Towers offers a diverse range of lifestyle options and amenities for the seniors demographic group, which will ensure the community sees high occupancy for many years to come,” said Tremper.
Brian Glover of Sierra Capital, who led the partnership which acquired the property, has selected Frontier Management to provide management services for the community bringing Frontier to four Arizona locations.
“This in an exceptional property with significant potential and has the features that make it very successful,” stated Glover.
Greg Roderick, Frontier’s Chief Executive Officer, is proud to add the community to Frontier’s family. “The exceptional team, rich history, and variety of services made Courtyard Towers a pleasure to become involved with,” said Roderick.
The Greystone Real Estate Advisors team leverages its extensive experience in providing expertise on the disposition or acquisition of seniors housing, including age-restricted communities, independent living, memory care and assisted living facilities.
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Source: https://www.greyco.com
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NOTE: The most recent Insight from Greyco: 
[Mesa has a crisis in affordable housing also...how do we deal with it?]
How Does Seattle Stack Up in Combating the Affordable Housing Crisis?
December 12, 2018
" . . . Seattle is the third-fastest growing economy among large cities in the U.S. As a result, the metro area is struggling with rising rents and tight rental vacancy, which has led to a housing affordability crisis. In 2015, Seattle declared a state of emergency with respect to its homelessness problem—and it currently has the third largest homeless population in the country, despite being the 18th largest city. Against this backdrop, the city is now girding itself for an influx of 120,000 new residents expected to move in over the next two decades. . . .
Headwinds for Low-Income Housing
Upzoning for Affordable Units
Seattle City Council’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) was formed to present approaches for creating more affordable housing. The city has recommended an inclusionary approach to development known as Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA), which would require developers to either include affordable housing for those who live at or up to 60 percent of adjusted median income ($38,000 for a single person, $54,000 for a family of four) within each new residential housing project or pay into a fund for such development.
Developers participating would gain upzoning privileges, a policy hotly contested within some neighborhoods where residents have raised concerns about additional density that isn’t linked to additional parking. The MHA plan is estimated to add 20,000 new affordable housing units over the coming decade (of the Mayor’s 50,000 goal), according to city estimates.
Pushback Against Plan
However, housing advocacy groups such as Seattle Fair Growth have criticized the plan for focusing incentives on the higher end of the affordability scale. Under MHA, developers need to create housing priced for those earning 50 to 60 percent of adjusted median income (AMI)—rather than the 0 percent to 50 percent AMI. Every $100 increase in rent, the organization says, results in a 15 percent increase in homelessness. While rents on average are not growing as quickly, they remain elevated—making it likely that Seattle’s affordable housing problem won’t be resolved anytime soon.