Historic Project to Preserve Public Housing

SAN FRANCISCO—More than 1,400 public housing units will be repaired and preserved by the San Francisco Housing Authority and its developer partners. Bank of America Merrill Lynch was selected as lender and tax credit investor for this public housing transformation project. This effort is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development‘s Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD), and pursues Mayor Edwin Lee‘s 2013 re-envisioning public housing goals. Construction is slated to start by November 1, 2015, with completions scheduled between August 2016 and April 2017.

Under HUD’s RAD program, Bank of America Merrill Lynch will provide new community-based nonprofit owners access to approximately $770 million in financing, in partnership with Freddie Mac. In response to a competitive request for proposals issued by the city in March 2015, Bank of America Merrill Lynch submitted its winning bid, which includes approximately $350 million in construction financing; approximately $300 million in low-income housing tax credit equity; $20 million in subordinated, forgivable debt; $2.2 million to provide services to public housing residents; $500,000 to enterprise community partners to assist the RAD developers; $5 million for predevelopment loans; and approximately $100 million in permanent financing from Freddie Mac.