WNC Closes $124M Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Will Cooper Jr.

WNC finishes out the year on a high note with the closing of a $124.5 million federal low-income housing tax credit fund that will be invested in 20 affordable housing projects across the United States and a Hawaii state tax credit fund for almost $5 million that will be used for a seniors housing project in Honolulu.

Will Cooper, Jr. president and CEO, said the combined funds have a total of 10 investors, three of which are new to WNC, and have an equal number of banks and insurance companies.

The larger, federal LIHTC fund is known as WNC Institutional Fund 37 and will help build nearly 2,000 units of affordable housing spread across 20 properties in 15 states. The projects are a combination of new development and rehabilitation and include senior, family and mixed tenancy.

“WNC Institutional Fund 37 is a national multi-investor fund formed to acquire a diversified portfolio of federal low-income housing tax credit properties,” Cooper said. “We were able to reach many parts of the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, while exceeding our initial fundraising goal by nearly 25 percent.”

One of the first projects funded in the WNC Institutional Fund 37 is development of 32 new single-family homes in Joplin, Mo., where thousands of homes were destroyed by a tornado in April 2013. Some residents have already moved into completed homes.

The Hawaii fund will be used for construction of a new 160-unit senior housing community in Honolulu. It is slated for completion by summer 2014, according to Cooper.

The core business of WNC, founded in 1972 and based in Irvine, Calif., is providing LIHTC equity. A national investor in real estate and community renewal initiatives, WNC has acquired more than $5.5 billion of assets representing more than 1,100 properties in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In March, the firm closed WNC Institutional Tax Credit Fund 35, a $100 million LIHTC fund that financed 18 affordable housing communities with a total of 1,134 units in 11 states. Twelve of those projects were for low-income families and the remaining six were for seniors. The developments were split evenly between new construction and rehab projects. Seven institutional investors participated in that fund – five banks and two insurance companies. WNC Instititutional Tax Credit Fund 34 closed in May 2011 with $116.2 million in investments to be used for 13 properties.

In June, WNC closed a $50 million California affordable housing fund that was to finance eight affordable housing properties with a total of 445 units. WNC Institutional Tax Credit Fund X, California Series 10 represented the 10th consecutive year WNC had closed a LIHTC fund in the state.

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