The Related Group’s Jon Paul Pérez is partnering with an affordable housing developer to launch a new venture focused on Section 42 housing.
Pérez, executive vice president at Related, is working with Patrick Plunkett on Perez Housing Associates. The company will operate independently from Related, and will focus solely on buying, rehabbing and running properties under Section 42 of the low income housing tax credit program, according to a release.
The Section 42 housing program provides tax credits to developers who build affordable housing.
Plunkett founded Federal Housing Solutions, a firm that acquires affordable and workforce housing projects that receive federal subsidies, including Section 8, 236, 202 and 42 properties, all under the low income housing tax credit program. He was also the director of acquisitions for The New York-based Related Companies’ affordable housing division. (Related Cos. owner Stephen Ross owns a minority stake in the Related Group.)
Plunkett said in the release that Section 42 “serves the country’s most vulnerable families and individuals” and that most of the existing housing stock is older and at risk of becoming market-rate.
Perez Housing Associates, or PHA, is aiming to acquire at least 1,000 units per year that will be renovated and repositioned within a year to 36 months.
The announcement comes as Jorge Pérez, president and CEO of Related and Jon Paul Pérez’s father, plans to hand over the title of Related’s president to his son within a year and the title of CEO within two years.
The Section 8-focused venture is separate from Related’s affordable housing arm, Related Urban Development, which is led by Albert Milo.
Earlier this month, Miami-Dade County, Related Urban and SunTrust unveiled plans for the 22-acre River Parc master plan in Little Havana. They also broke ground on the Gallery at River Parc, a 150-unit affordable and workforce housing project. The master plan will add 1,800 of such units to the three public housing projects that already exist on site, currently totaling 800 units.