Minnesota Developer Lands Financing for Planned Affordable Housing Complex Near Phoenix

Article originally posted on CoStar on March 8, 2023

Roer’s Proposed Apartment Project Could Bring Needed Low-Income Housing to Phoenix’s West Valley

Real estate development firm Roers Cos. received $90 million in financing to build a 200-unit affordable housing project in Buckeye, a fast-growing suburb west of Phoenix.

Roers, based near Minneapolis, secured construction financing, permanent financing and federal low-income housing tax credit equity for its Solana Villas project at 25201 W. MC 85 Highway.

Merchants Capital, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Merchants Bank of Indiana provided the financing for the planned eight-building, garden-style apartment complex on 10.7 acres, according to a statement from Merchants Capital.

“In the past several years we have focused on expanding our presence as an affordable and multifamily financier nationally, and this new property contributes to our overarching goal,” Marsha Goff, executive vice president of Merchants’ St. Paul office, said in a statement.

Buckeye, one of the fastest-growing smaller cities in the United States by population for more than a decade, has seen a residential construction boom as rents and home prices have increased in Phoenix, to the east.

About 2,500 units are under construction in the West Maricopa County submarket, which includes Buckeye and Goodyear. When fully built, the new units will double the area’s multifamily stock, according to a CoStar Market Analytics report.

Roers did not disclose a construction schedule or the planned asking rents for Solana Villas. The project is slated to include one-, two- and three-bedroom units to be restricted to people earning no more than 60% of the area median income.

The project is an opportunity “to deliver much-needed affordable housing to the Buckeye area,” Kevin Sturgeon, senior development consultant at Roers, said in the statement.