Developer SoLa Impact, a firm that specializes in affordable and workforce housing developments in South Los Angeles, bought six properties across two blocks of Crenshaw Boulevard for a multifamily project called Crenshaw Lofts that let it qualify for federal tax breaks.
A family trust based in Beverly Hills sold the older retail properties at 4605-4709 Crenshaw Blvd. to SoLa Impact for $11 million. The properties are in a federally designated "opportunity zone" that provides tax advantages for developers in lower-income neighborhoods.
Demolition ahead: SoLa Impact, which is also the operator of a family of real estate funds with 3,000 apartments owned or in various stages of development, expects to break ground on the 195-unit Lofts project at 4609 S. Crenshaw Blvd., which will replace several buildings to be demolished at the site, after securing city approvals over the next year to 18 months.
Why it matters: The planned seven-story apartment complex in the Park Mesa Heights neighborhood would be the latest project funded by SoLa Impact's $1 billion Black Impact Fund, launched two years ago to fund real estate development and other investments in minority communities. The housing developer's fund has received a $50 million investment from the California State Teachers' Retirement System and a $25 million investment from financial tech firm PayPal.
A first: SoLa Impact developed the red-brick Beehive, a 92,000-square-foot development at 1000 E. 60th St. in South L.A. which the firm describes as the nation's first opportunity zone business campus.
Offering scholarships: Thanks to an investment from Snapchat developer Snap Inc., SoLa offers four-year college scholarships to students in South L.A., where only 3 in 10 graduating high school seniors go on to attend college, the investor said in a statement.
What they're saying: "SoLa has a social impact mission that calls them to build projects that cater to the surrounding community," said Kidder Mathews broker Casey Lins, who along with partner Scott Rosenberg represented the buyer and seller in the land acquisition. "This project would also be one of the first along the new Metro Line, which makes this project a big deal."
CoStar's Impact Awards highlight the commercial real estate transactions and projects that have transformed their markets over the past year. The winners are chosen by independent panels of industry professionals who work in the markets they judge. A list of judges can be found here and the criteria for selecting winners can be found here.