Marin County’s Catalyst Housing Group buys 593 San Francisco East Bay apartments for $231M
Catalyst Housing Group said it acquired two more San Francisco Bay Area multifamily housing communities, increasing the size of its portfolio for middle-income California housing to 2,781 units.
The Larkspur-based firm this month purchased the East Bay complexes, located in Antioch and Dublin, via public-private financing arranged through California Community Housing Agency, the company announced Thursday. The market-rate properties will be converted to permanently rent-restricted for families earning 80%–120% of the local median household income.
This is the “missing middle” demographic, those who don’t qualify for subsidized housing and can’t afford market-rate housing, that Catalyst was formed in 2019 to address. The firm has now purchased $1.5 billion in California properties via its financing relationship with the agency, which arranges the sale of revenue bonds with the governments where the properties are located.
"Both acquisitions provide opportunities to further our mission of housing California's nurses, teachers, first responders and civil servants directly within the communities they serve," said Catalyst founder Jordan Moss in the announcement.
Catalyst acquired the Aster complex, directly adjacent to the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station, for $163 million, or about $521,000 a unit. Developed in 2017, it has 313 luxury apartment units and more than 16,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Commercial tenants include Amakara, a sushi restaurant with a notable following.
Mira Vista Hills, located in Antioch, was purchased for $68 million, or about $243,000 a unit. The 280-unit property had affordability restrictions on 20% of the units, but that could have been removed with the sale of the property, Catalyst said. Existing tenants will remain in the building.
The complex is set to get substantial renovations to building exteriors, unit interiors, common areas and amenities.
"The City of Antioch looks forward to its partnership with Catalyst Housing Group and the opportunity to provide more housing options for all segments of our community," said Forrest Ebbs, community development director, in the news release.
