$75 Million Fund to Green Affordable Housing on East Coast

A new $75 million fund will finance multifamily green affordable housing along the East coast.

The Rose Green Cities Fund LLC will acquire and renovate existing multifamily properties with cost-effective, high-impact green technologies, and preserve their affordability for the long-term.

Citi Community Capital and Rose Investments, a division of Jonathan Rose Companies, known for its urban green buildings, are launching the fund. 

It will target projects in high-demand, mass-transit accessible locations, focusing on locations in Connecticut, New Jersey and the Washington, D.C. metro area.

The Fund is pinpointing projects and portfolios from $25-$50 million of total capitalization, with a special focus on Section 8, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and expiring use assets in need of renovation. They have a number of promising projects in the pipeline, and are actively seeking others.

Rose says Citi’s investment confirms insitutional investors’ appetite for double bottom line strategies that enable them to "do well by doing good" and repairing the fabric of communities. 

"In today’s volatile market, investments in affordable housing, especially in high-demand/high-cost markets, can provide a great opportunity to generate attractive, low-risk returns. At the same time, these investments are fostering more resilient communities," says Jonathan Rose, founder of Jonathan Rose Companies.

Jonathan Rose Companies currently manages development of over $1.5 billion of real estate projects from offices in New York, Connecticut, Colorado, the Pacific Northwest and New Mexico.

Last year, aging apartment buildings in Harlem, New York got a green facelift, thanks to a model private-public partnership and HUD’s Green Retrofit Program.

The $50.9 million project, developed by Jonathan Rose, is being touted as a national model for private-public investments that preserve and green affordable housing.

"Funding for development of new affordable rental housing is insufficient to meet America’s needs. The preservation of our existing affordable housing stock is essential. Many of these buildings are also in need of renovation. The solution is to have responsible owners purchase the existing stock as it comes up for sale, extend the period of committed affordability, and make green capital and operating improvements," says Jonathan Rose.