Reliant Group Spends $90 Million for East Bay Apartments

Reliant Group Management bought a large affordable apartment complex in the East Bay.

The San Francisco-based firm, acting through an affiliate, bought the Lido Square apartments in Pittsburg for $90 million, the Mercury News reported. The sellers of the 173-unit property at 2131 Crestview Lane were James Busby and Irwin Deutscher, records show.

Lido Square was at risk of losing its affordable status if state agencies didn’t step in, according to a report from a meeting of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and California Tax Credit Allocation Committee earlier this year.

They recommended tax credits that will preserve affordability for another 55 years.

The 173 units at Lido Square consist of 171 affordable units and two manager’s units. It has 88 two-bedroom residences and 85 three-bedrooms. Tenants must make 30 to 80 percent of the area median income. In Contra Costa County, that applies to individuals making between $33,600 and $87,550, or $47,950 and $125,050 for a household of four.

The deal to keep the apartments affordable is contingent on a budget set by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee. That $149.1 million budget includes the $90 million purchase price, $23.1 million in renovation and rehabilitation costs and a $17.4 million developer fee.

Reliant Group Management secured $11 million in financing from the California Housing Finance Agency to help fund the acquisition. Reliant Group plans to take on renovation and rehabilitation work at Lido Square.

The California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and other state agencies provide funding or other favorable tax vehicles to support affordable residential projects across the state. In San Jose, for example, Resources for Community Development’s 99-unit Lupina project at 797 South Almaden Avenue received undisclosed financing from the state along with $53.3 million in construction financing from JPMorgan Chase and $28.9 million from Santa Clara County.

Reliant Group has made tweaks to its Bay Area multifamily holdings over the past two years. In June 2024, it bought the Moreland Apartments, a 160-unit apartment building in San Jose for $71 million. And in September, it sold the 148-unit Canyon Ridge at Napa Junction apartment community in the suburb of American Canyon for $57 million.

— Chris Malone Méndez