Affordable housing developer Jonathan Rose Companies has closed on a $525 million impact acquisition fund with investors focused on climate change, poverty and income inequality, and COVID health concerns.
Now Rose says it will deploy the money in “Communities of Opportunity,” adding programs and facilities to properties that, where possible, include on-site community centers, computer filled classrooms, health and wellness rooms, social service rooms, exercise facilities and community gardens to develop initiatives to connect residents with a range of health, educational and social services.
“Our fundraising success was a testament to the rising interest of investors in impact and our team’s track record over the last decade and a half of delivering on that promise,” said Jonathan F. P. Rose, president of Jonathan Rose Companies. “Every one of our investors underwrote our environmental and social track records as deeply as they did our financial track record.”
Nathan D. Taft, Partner and Managing Director of Acquisitions, added, “COVID laid bare the fissures in our social safety net and underscored the need for safe, clean affordable housing. We have already committed Fund V to investments coast to coast in stand-alone properties and portfolios and continue to leverage our expertise and reputation for closing complex deals to find good opportunities.”
This is the firm’s fifth institutional fund focused on acquiring and preserving affordable multifamily housing, implementing practical green strategies to reduce environmental impacts and operating costs, and connecting residents with social, educational and other services.
It was raised during a time of investor caution, with health care systems, pension funds, foundations, universities, impact investment advisors, family offices and high net-worth investors chipping in.
Previous Rose funds have produced annual distributions exceeding six percent and 15-year record of a 15.4 percent net IRR.
Christine Looney of the Ford Foundation, said, “Rose’s triple bottom line focus on delivering risk-adjusted returns to investors while preserving affordable housing and providing critical social services to low-income residents and energy efficiency improvements to properties brings us one step closer to that goal.”
Jim Sorenson of the Sorenson Impact Foundation, said, “Jonathan Rose and team have consistently generated strong returns for investors and created positive social impact by implementing customized resident programs that are focused on building tenant resiliency.”
Founded in 1989, Jonathan Rose Companies has developed or acquired more than $3.2 billion of real estate. The company’s affiliate, Rose Smart Growth Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC-Registered Investment Adviser, is the investment advisor to the Fund.
