SAN BERNARDINO, CA - Wells Fargo & Company, a leader in affordable housing, has provided $22.7 million for the construction of affordable multifamily housing in San Bernardino, California. Wells Fargo supplied $8.8 million in construction to 40-year permanent financing through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 221(d)(4) program, and purchased $13.9 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
The development is also part of HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD), which provides the opportunity to convert public housing properties into long-term Section 8 housing.
“Wells Fargo is thrilled to close this new construction loan through HUD’s RAD program, providing more affordable living options for the San Bernardino community,” said Jennifer Quigley, managing director, Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital.
Janine Halverson, a director in Wells Fargo’s Multifamily Capital group, added, “We look forward to partnering with HUD on similar projects to help preserve and improve affordable housing in communities across the country.”
The property, known as Waterman Gardens, is an existing public housing project that is undergoing a multi-phase redevelopment. This particular redevelopment phase consists of 19 one- and two-story townhomes, and one single-story maintenance building. The proposed development will replace the 20 existing buildings with 62 units of affordable, garden-style multifamily apartments.
Additional proceeds for this project were provided by local organizations including HOME Investment Partnership Act Funds from the City of San Bernardino and a development loan and ground lease from the Housing Authority of San Bernardino.
“Wells Fargo has a strong commitment to affordable housing across the country and we’re excited to provide the tax credit equity component of this financing to bring affordable housing to San Bernardino residents,” said Paul Buckland, manager, Wells Fargo Community Lending and Investment.
In 2015, Wells Fargo community development lending and investments to support affordable housing, job creation, community services and economic development totaled $7.6 billion (according to 2015 CRA data). For more than 15 years Wells Fargo has been investing in tax credits and is one of the few banks active in both direct and fund equity investments, increasing the opportunity to provide developers with needed capital and to provide individuals and families with much needed affordable housing.