Blackstone Real Estate Portfolio Company April Housing Delivers on Voluntary Commitment to Preserve Affordability
Completion of Four Initial Resyndications Extends Affordability of Properties for An Additional 30 Years
NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES, August 8, 2024—Blackstone Real Estate, through its affordable housing portfolio company April Housing, today announced that it has completed initial resyndications at four communities with a combined 898 units in Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas. In partnership with local government agencies, public finance corporations, and non-profit organizations, April Housing is taking action to preserve the affordability of these properties for at least another 30 years, and prevent rents from being raised to market rates. These resyndications are the latest in a series of moves that April Housing has made as part of a larger strategy to preserve affordable housing across April’s vast 70,000-unit portfolio.
In 2022, funds affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate launched April Housing, a leading provider of solutions and capital for the creation and preservation of high-quality affordable housing throughout the United States. April’s properties are governed by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program (LIHTC), a federal program that restricts rents in these communities. Over the next decade, unless the owner takes voluntary action, many of these communities could become market rate as their affordability restrictions expire. Since its founding, April has demonstrated a track record of voluntary actions to extend and expand affordability, even as those restrictions expire, including:
- Investing over $100 million to build nearly 800 new, affordable units.
- Withdrawing Qualified Contract applications submitted by the property’s previous owner, preserving affordable rents according to the LIHTC restrictions
- Working with state and local government agencies across the country to extend affordability restrictions.
In addition to preserving affordability, the resyndications will enable April Housing to substantially improve these communities without raising rent levels above LIHTC restrictions. April intends to support residents through an approximately one to two-week stay away from their apartments while the units are renovated. Those same residents will return to a freshly renovated apartment, complete with improvements such as stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, new floors, fresh paint, and an upgraded bathroom. The project will also include roof replacements, structural and façade repairs, and new amenity and green spaces where residents can gather.
Alice Carr, April Housing CEO, said: “This is why we founded April Housing: to open new paths to preserving and improving high-quality affordable housing. This is the latest in a series of actions that demonstrate the ability of our team to work with industry partners in innovative ways so we can deliver for our residents – and we are just getting started.”
Ms. Carr continued: “This is about more than just preserving and extending affordability at these specific communities. April Housing’s work fundamentally speaks to the level of ambition we have for this sector, as we step into a better future together. For our residents, this means giving them the best homes possible; for our community partners, closer partnerships give them a pathway towards more resilient, sustainable futures so they can serve even more residents; and for our teammates moving through their careers, an opportunity to do truly impactful work.”
Perica Bell, April Housing’s Head of Preservation, said: “Preserving affordable housing has never been more important in our country and doing so at this speed and scale requires unprecedented effort and coordination across the industry. By partnering with exceptional public agency and non-profit partners, as well as well-resourced responsible capital, our preservation program is delivering for our residents.”
Kathleen McCarthy, Global Co-Head of Real Estate at Blackstone, said: “Preserving affordability is a cornerstone of Blackstone’s approach to responsible ownership of affordable housing. When we became stewards of the largest affordable housing portfolio in the U.S., we committed to keeping these homes affordable. This is a key milestone in keeping that promise to residents. We are proud to have worked with April Housing and alongside a number of organizations to demonstrate how the private and public sectors can work together to improve the quality of affordable housing while growing critically needed supply.”
About April Housing
April Housing, a Blackstone Real Estate portfolio company, is a leading provider of solutions and capital for the preservation and creation of high-quality affordable housing in the United States. April Housing prioritizes improving communities and supporting residents while expanding the available supply of affordable housing.
About Blackstone Real Estate
Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has US $336 billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is the largest owner of commercial real estate globally, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, data centers, residential, office and hospitality. Our opportunistic funds seek to acquire undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone’s Core+ business invests in substantially stabilized real estate assets globally, through both institutional strategies and strategies tailored for income-focused individual investors including Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT). Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT).
