Roizman, Related Group, Related Companies Sell Rentals

Canadian real estate investment firm Spira Equity Partners and Foundation For Affordable Housing bought a low-income apartment complex in Weston for $50.5 million.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Spira and Bend, Oregon-based Foundation For Affordable Housing bought the 300-unit The Falls of Bonaventure at 201 Racquet Club Road, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The buyers took out $53.1 million in loans for the purchase, consisting of a $28.6 million Freddie Mac senior debt and a $24.5 million subordinate loan from an entity tied to Spira.

Completed in 1989 on a nearly 20-acre site, Falls of Bonaventure consists of a pair of five-story apartment buildings and a one-story clubhouse.

The selling entity ties to Fairview, New Jersey-based low-income housing developer Roizman Development, which paid $9.8 million for the property in 1993, according to records. The selling entity also ties to New York-based Related Companies and the Pérez family’s Coconut Grove-based Related Group, records show.

The two Related companies previously were partners, with their founders starting to invest together in South Florida real estate in the 1970s. Related Companies was founded by Steve Ross, who in 2024 stepped back from the firm to start and lead West Palm Beach-based Related Ross, which is exclusively focused on South Florida. Related Group’s founder is Jorge Pérez, who still leads the firm with his sons, Jon Paul Pérez and Nicholas Pérez.

Over the years, Ross’ stake in Related Group waned, and in 2022, he publicly stated “just kind of split recently, very amicably,” referring to Related Group. The firms are major investors and developers in South Florida, where both started out as affordable housing developers.

Foundation For Affordable Housing, co-founded by Tom and Deborrah Willard, and led by Darrin Willard, has a portfolio of over 300 properties nationwide with nearly 38,000 units, according to its website. It’s been a sporadic investor in South Florida low- and moderate-income housing.

In 2024, Foundation For Affordable Housing sold the 172-unit Woodsdale Oaks apartment complex at 2543-2595 Northwest 49th Avenue in Lauderdale Lakes for $20 million to Spira Equity. The firm also sold the 123-unit senior independent living Federation Plaza building at 3081 Taft Street in Hollywood for $29.7 million. Related Companies was the buyer.

Spira, led by managing partners Stephen Ho and Robert Lee, is an affordable housing investment firm with a portfolio of $700 million in assets owned, spanning more than 3,300 units, according to its website.

Affordable housing apartment complexes are a coveted asset among investors in South Florida, largely due to pent up demand fueled by the region’s ever-increasing cost of living and lagging incomes.

In 2024, New York-based Fairstead bought the 177-unit affordable housing complex at 3144-3146 Northwest 19th Street in Lauderhill for $26.5 million, at the time starting renovations.