San Francisco-based affordable housing developer Bridge Housing has hired a veteran from California's multifamily development world as it works to expand housing on the West Coast.
The nonprofit developer tapped Stephen Clarke as senior vice president of development and acquisitions. Working out of Bridge's Los Angeles office, Clarke joins a team that's addressing the housing crisis by developing, acquiring and preserving affordable and workforce housing throughout California, Oregon and Washington.
Bridge aims to further that goal by deploying capital from several sources, including an impact fund it launched last year to finance housing for low- and moderate-income families and a $175 million bond offering that amounts to the largest deal of its kind in the San Francisco-based nonprofit's history. The scope is a reflection of the investor appetite for affordable housing across Western markets.
Bridge plans to use the proceeds to expand its West Coast portfolio by 5,100 affordable housing units through next year. About half the growth will come from acquisitions, according to the offering documents.
Clarke has more than 20 years of experience in real estate development, finance and asset management across various types of projects, from student to market-rate housing. Until recently, he handled some $1.5 billion in development and acquisition activity as vice president and executive team member at AMCAL Multi-Housing Inc.
Before that, he served in a leadership role at another nonprofit housing developer, Los Angeles Housing Partnership Inc., where he helped secure funding from private and public sources.
“Stephen’s background across both nonprofit and private-sector development will be instrumental as we continue to expand our portfolio and grow our impact,” said Bridge President and Chief Executive Ken Lombard.
Rising costs
The San Francisco-based developer said it is on course to raise $350 million of equity, which it thinks will enable around $1 billion worth of investment potential to acquire and create affordable and workforce housing in urban areas of California, Oregon and Washington.
A growing number of Americans are steadily being priced out of homeownership in the United States as home prices have continued to rise. Meanwhile, renter cost burdens have reached record highs, per a 2024 report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Bridge Housing has created some 23,000 homes in California, Oregon and Washington since it launched in 1983. Its $4 billion portfolio comprises nearly 15,000 apartments that house more than 30,000 residents, with more than 10,000 additional units in the pipeline along the West Coast, a region that includes some of the priciest housing markets in the United States.
Late last year, Bridge joined forces with investment firm Avanath Capital Management to create a jointly owned property management company for affordable housing.
The company has taken part in large public housing revitalizations such as a $1 billion redevelopment effort of Jordan Downs, a sprawling development built in the 1940s that is one of the largest public housing complexes in Los Angeles. Jordan Downs is in the midst of a transformation that includes doubling the number of residential units and adding retail and community spaces along with new parks and open spaces for residents.
Clarke holds an MBA from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester and a bachelor of arts from the Catholic University of America.