Alonzo Mourning, HTG Nab Affordable Senior Rentals Financing

NBA Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning and Housing Trust Group landed a $47 million financing package for a seniors-only affordable apartment project in Hollywood.

Mourning’s AM Affordable Housing and Coconut Grove-based Housing Trust Group started construction of the 96-unit Villa Jordana at 826 South Dixie Highway, according to the developers’ news release. Completion is expected next year.

The financing includes $33.8 million in low-income housing tax credit equity syndicated by Raymond James, and a $32 million construction loan and a $10.2 million permanent loan, both from Capital One through Freddie Mac, according to the release. The city of Hollywood also provided a $640,000 loan.

Villa Jordana will be restricted to renters who are 62 and older, earning between 33 percent and 60 percent of the area median income, the release says.

Monthly rents will range from $713 to $1,555. That’s a break from Hollywood’s average rent this month of $2,179, according to RentCafe.

Led by Matthew A. Rieger, Housing Trust Group develops multifamily for a mix of incomes, with more than $4 billion on commercial, residential and land developments in Florida, as well as Arizona, Illinois and Texas, the release says. It has nearly 2,700 units in South Florida.

Housing Trust Group and AM Affordable Housing, a nonprofit launched by Mourning, who retired from the Miami Heat in 2009, have partnered on affordable housing projects across Florida.

This includes the two-phase Courtside apartment project in Miami’s Overtown, consisting of a six-story, 94-unit building at 1699 Northwest Fourth Avenue completed in 2016, and a pair of seven-story buildings with 120 units, combined, at 1698 Northwest Third Avenue and 1501 Northwest Fourth Avenue.

Last year, the partners completed the five-story, 120-unit Astoria on 9th affordable senior housing project in Bradenton, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, according to Housing Trust Group’s website. Also last year, Housing Trust Group and AM Affordable Housing finished the eight-story, 96-unit Oasis at Aventura affordable senior building at 18700 Northeast 25th Avenue in the Ojus neighborhood.

On its own, Housing Trust Group has seized on Hollywood. In October, it scored approval for the 110-unit Hillcrest Village on Pembroke Road, west of I-95. The firm completed the 96-unit Hudson Village in 2022 and the 216-unit University Station last year, both in Hollywood.

Affordable housing development is an attractive niche in South Florida’s real estate market. The region is still feeling the crush from a supply overhang of luxury and market-rate rentals, defined by slower lease-ups and a drop in rents, following years of hefty completions.

Developers who can master the complexities of securing low-income housing tax credits and other state and local government financing mechanisms and subsidies have a near ensured demand for their affordable buildings.

The average asking home price in South Florida was $500,000 last month, according to Realtor.com. Yet, the median income in Miami-Dade County is $87,200, while it’s $96,200 in Broward County and $111,800 in Palm Beach County, according to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.