Courtesy of Riaz Capital.
NEW YORK CITY- Riaz Capital, a development, construction and property management firm based in Oakland, California, has zeroed in on its $100 million capital commitment goal for its Opportunity Zone fund, securing an estimated $75 million in capital commitments. The funding will support the construction of 12 new housing developments in Oakland Opportunity Zones.
When Riaz's team went on the road to raise funding, the firm quickly figured out what worked and what didn't in investor pitch meetings. Simply communicating the need for affordable housing in underserved areas and the Opportunity Zone-tax benefits wouldn't be enough, Riaz Taplin, principal of Riaz Capital, tells GlobeSt.com.
But pairing that with how Riaz's investment thesis would take actionable steps to alleviate the area's homeless crisis and cater to the area's demographics, captured investor attention and dollars. "We expressed that we have a real solution to a real problem," Taplin said.
Thus far, the fund, dubbed the ABD Ozone Fund, has allocated proceeds for its Affordable By Design business model for acquisitions, design and the eventual management of an estimated 2,000 housing units.
The ABD model targets the housing needs of Bay-Area professionals earning between $40,000 and $120,000. The area has an estimated shortfall of 408,000 units that are considered affordable to this target demographic.
Riaz Capital currently has seven development sites in Oakland Opportunity Zones, offering low-risk returns. Once completed, the small-site developments will provide housing to an estimated 2,161 Oaklanders, with average monthly rents of $1,675, residences that are below 30 percent of the average monthly income in the area.
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Mariah Brown
Mariah Brown is the New York Bureau Chief and Real Estate Reporter for GlobeSt.com, covering the New York Metro area, Northeast region and national real estate trends. She is responsible for producing multi-media content, including articles, podcasts and video. Before joining the GlobeSt team, she served as a New York Times fellow, reported for the Associated Press in New York and Philadelphia and several other New York City-based outlets.
