Arixa, Belay to Invest in Multifamily Development on West Coast

Arixa Capital affiliate Arixa Holdings and Belay Investment Group have formed a joint venture to invest in multifamily development. The joint venture will provide $1 million to $10 million in  bridge, renovation and construction loans for multifamily and homebuilding developments, targeting local real estate investors and developers.

For Arixa, this joint venture will strengthen the company’s Western US platform. Specifically, the two firms are focused on addressing the housing affordability gap in Los Angeles and other major West Coast markets. For that reason, the joint venture will mandate that borrowers meet attainability guidelines for housing. Those guidelines are determined by median home prices and rental rates. Ultimately, the goal of the joint venture it is to increase the supply of for-sale single-family and apartment units.

Targeted capital focused on combatting the affordable housing crisis is crucial to the industry. A recent report sponsored by Capital One from the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California Berkeley said that the fragmented nature of affordable housing financing has pushed many developers—and therefore affordable projects—out of the market. Most affordable housing projects require a multitude of complex financing to make a project pencil. The report called for more streamlined capital and debt alternatives that would de-complicate the industry. Overall, the problem is getting worse, but programmatic joint ventures, like this one, are a move in the right direction.

The dearth of housing stock is only intensifying. While the pandemic saw some renters relocate from major metros to more affordable markets, National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz actually predicts that most renters will stay put. This is largely due to rising material costs and supply shortages along with expected increases in mortgage rates, which will serve to keep renters out of the homebuying market. This trend will only intensify the need for attainably priced housing.

Support industries are preparing for an increase in affordable development. In addition to Arixa and Belay providing capital, RAAM Construction is also expecting an increase in development. “With affordable housing demand consistently outpacing supply, public-private partnerships on the rise to develop this product type, and investors looking to diversify with a stable investment category, affordable housing construction is positioned to remain a strong sector of commercial real estate well into the future,” the firm’s founder and president Richard Lara told GlobeSt.com in an earlier interview.

With contractors and capital sources supporting affordable development, more building projects are likely to find a path forward.