Waterford adds “workforce housing” in Pomona

Waterford Property Company has once again partnered with a state joint powers authority to buy a large apartment complex for conversion into workforce housing.

The firm and the California Statewide Communities Development Authority bought a 472-unit complex at 777 East 3rd Street in Pomona for $194.4 million, according to a Monday announcement. Newport Beach-based Picerne Residential sold the complex.

The deal was funded through tax-exempt bond financing.

The financial benefit is offered through the state authority in exchange for Waterford lowering rents for qualified new residents who make between 60 and 120 percent of the area’s median income.

The complex already includes 94 units reserved for residents making 50 percent of the area’s median income. Under Waterford’s management, the restrictions on the affordable units will be extended through 2055 and a further 63 units will be converted to very low-income apartments.

Waterford and the joint powers authority will also invest $18 million to renovate the units.

The Pomona City Council approved Waterford and the CSCDA’s acquisition in a 7-0 vote in October, with Pomona’s deputy city manager, Kirk Pelser, adding the deal helps address “the dire need for affordable housing” across the state.

Middle-income housing conversions now count toward the state’s mandated affordable housing quota for cities and counties in California, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 787 into law in September.

This is Waterford and the CSCDA’s first deal in Pomona, a city of about 150,000 on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County. Over the last year, the pair have purchased a 265-unit complex in Anaheim for $127.3 million, two complexes in Pasadena for $335 million and a 500-unit complex in Glendale for $300 million, among other properties.