Hayward townhome-condo project lands $105M construction loan

The True Life Companies landed construction financing for its 189-unit townhome-condo development in Hayward in the East Bay, breathing new life into a project that the city approved nearly two years ago.

Madison Realty Capital, a New York City-based real estate private equity firm, provided The True Life Companies (TTLC) with a phased, $105 million construction loan, Madison Realty said in a news release Wednesday. Dubbed “SoMi,” the multi-phase project near Mission Boulevard and Tennyson Road has 123 townhomes consisting of three- and four-bedroom units and 66 condominiums — 20 of which would be affordable for those making moderate incomes — consisting of two- and three-bedroom units. The entire development also includes about 10,800 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, an urban park and a dog park.

Denver-based TTLC plans to break ground on SoMi in the fourth quarter of this year and open model townhomes in the late spring, company spokesperson Cynthia Keller told The Real Deal on Wednesday. The developer’s construction loan with Madison Realty is the first and only one for the project, which is also the first that will be built under the banner of Homes Built for America, TTLC’s new homebuilding division, Keller said. TTLC is developing the new residential community in partnership with Hillwood, a Dallas-based real estate development company, according to Madison Realty’s release.

“The San Francisco Bay Area market has long lacked affordable new housing options, and TTLC’s mission to alleviate housing supply constraints is one we readily support,” Josh Zegen, managing principal and co-founder of Madison Realty, said in the release. “We look forward to working closely with TTLC to finance each phase of construction for this exciting project.”

Madison Realty’s $105 million construction loan has a three-year term with extension options and will finance all phases of TTLC’s Hayward development, a spokesperson for the firm told The Real Deal. The firm did not immediately respond to questions about how many options to extend are stipulated in the loan or how long each extension period is.

The Hayward City Council unanimously approved TTLC’s project in October 2019, though the company still needed to obtain grading and building permits and receive the city’s OK on its final plans before it could begin construction. TTLC has since gotten the city’s green light on its so-called “precise development plan,” while its final map, grading permits and building permits are all pending approval, Leigha Schmidt, acting principal planner at the City of Hayward, told The Real Deal on Wednesday.

Over the past decade, companies such as Taylor Morrison, AMCAL and Eden Housing have helped transform the area around the site of TTLC’s townhome-condo project through the addition of several large residential developments. The largest of those, dubbed “SoHay,” is across the street from TTLC’s project and contains 400 condominiums and 72 apartments; homebuilder Taylor Morrison has partially completed the entire development and is opening it to new residents in phases. All of those projects have gone up within a one-mile radius of the South Hayward BART Station; TTLC’s planned new community is about 0.3 miles from the station.