Local nonprofit agency UMFS sold the Guardian Place apartments complex next to its headquarters campus for $25.6 million. (Jack Jacobs photo)
A local nonprofit has sold off an apartment complex adjacent to its headquarters campus to fuel further expansion of its operations.
United Methodist Family Services announced this week it sold the Guardian Place senior apartments complex at 1620 N. Hamilton St. for $25.6 million.
The buyer was Fairfield, a San-Diego based multi-family properties developer and operator.
The apartment complex consists of 236 units in two buildings on 6 acres. The property and its two parcels were most recently assessed by the city at $13.6 million.
Nancy Toscano, president and CEO of UMFS, said the child and family services nonprofit decided to sell Guardian Place to generate extra cash to help it handle increased costs of its day-to-day operations and construction around its campus.
“Basically, the construction costs were sky high and the labor market was transforming before our eyes. The needs of the kids kept going up and just generally the cost of doing business was climbing,” Toscano said. “While we have a strong fundraising base, that wasn’t going to cut it. So, we began imagining what it might be like to divest ownership of Guardian Place.”
UMFS opened the Guardian Place apartments in 1994 and added the second building to the development in the early 2000s.
Toscano said it was a difficult decision to sell off the complex but that the deal ultimately served to help the nonprofit focus on its primary mission of supporting children with disabilities through services like foster care, schooling and residential treatment.
“It’s been an important part of our mission but it is a little bit different from everything else. We serve kids mostly,” she said. “You can’t be everything to everyone and this will allow us to be laser focused on our core mission.”
Guardian Place is a mixture of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Guardian Place I’s rental rates average about $800 a month while Guardian Place II’s rental rates average about $930 a month, according to a UMFS spokesperson.
Toscano said UMFS conducted a search for a buyer and got nine offers for the property. It settled on Fairfield because the company seemed like a good fit to continue the nonprofit’s vision of the apartments as an affordable residential development for seniors.
“We were so impressed by them and what their business plan was and they agreed to every request we had,” Toscano said.
Fairfield didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“The community will be a strong addition to our affordable portfolio of over 16,000 units across 22 markets and allows us to grow our presence in the local Richmond market,” Fairfield Executive Vice President of Investment Management Josh Kawaii-Bogue said in a news release about the deal.
Fairfield’s other regional holdings consist of Broadwater Townhomes at 15149 Broadwater Way and Grand Oaks Apartments at 5301 Grand Oaks Forest Circle, both of which are in Chester, per the company’s website.
Toscano said the proceeds from the sale will help cover costs of new construction on campus, as well as renovations and operational costs.
UMFS broke ground in September on a 21,000-square-foot addition to its Charterhouse School, which is currently about 24,600 square feet. In the spring, the project was estimated to cost $9 million. The facility is used for the nonprofit’s K-12 education program for children with special needs.
The Charterhouse project is intended to consolidate that program in one place. Currently, it is spread throughout the campus. The addition is planned to be a separate building that will connect to the existing building via a breezeway.
The plan is to finish construction in August 2023.
The nonprofit recently completed its new $11 million Child and Family Healing Center, which is a residential treatment center for children.
UMFS is a statewide nonprofit agency headquartered at 3900 W. Broad St. It has nine offices in the state.
Local nonprofit agency UMFS sold the Guardian Place apartments complex next to its headquarters campus for $25.6 million. (Jack Jacobs photo)
A local nonprofit has sold off an apartment complex adjacent to its headquarters campus to fuel further expansion of its operations.
United Methodist Family Services announced this week it sold the Guardian Place senior apartments complex at 1620 N. Hamilton St. for $25.6 million.
The buyer was Fairfield, a San-Diego based multi-family properties developer and operator.
The apartment complex consists of 236 units in two buildings on 6 acres. The property and its two parcels were most recently assessed by the city at $13.6 million.
Nancy Toscano, president and CEO of UMFS, said the child and family services nonprofit decided to sell Guardian Place to generate extra cash to help it handle increased costs of its day-to-day operations and construction around its campus.
“Basically, the construction costs were sky high and the labor market was transforming before our eyes. The needs of the kids kept going up and just generally the cost of doing business was climbing,” Toscano said. “While we have a strong fundraising base, that wasn’t going to cut it. So, we began imagining what it might be like to divest ownership of Guardian Place.”
UMFS opened the Guardian Place apartments in 1994 and added the second building to the development in the early 2000s.
Toscano said it was a difficult decision to sell off the complex but that the deal ultimately served to help the nonprofit focus on its primary mission of supporting children with disabilities through services like foster care, schooling and residential treatment.
“It’s been an important part of our mission but it is a little bit different from everything else. We serve kids mostly,” she said. “You can’t be everything to everyone and this will allow us to be laser focused on our core mission.”
Guardian Place is a mixture of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Guardian Place I’s rental rates average about $800 a month while Guardian Place II’s rental rates average about $930 a month, according to a UMFS spokesperson.
Toscano said UMFS conducted a search for a buyer and got nine offers for the property. It settled on Fairfield because the company seemed like a good fit to continue the nonprofit’s vision of the apartments as an affordable residential development for seniors.
“We were so impressed by them and what their business plan was and they agreed to every request we had,” Toscano said.
Fairfield didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“The community will be a strong addition to our affordable portfolio of over 16,000 units across 22 markets and allows us to grow our presence in the local Richmond market,” Fairfield Executive Vice President of Investment Management Josh Kawaii-Bogue said in a news release about the deal.
Fairfield’s other regional holdings consist of Broadwater Townhomes at 15149 Broadwater Way and Grand Oaks Apartments at 5301 Grand Oaks Forest Circle, both of which are in Chester, per the company’s website.
Toscano said the proceeds from the sale will help cover costs of new construction on campus, as well as renovations and operational costs.
UMFS broke ground in September on a 21,000-square-foot addition to its Charterhouse School, which is currently about 24,600 square feet. In the spring, the project was estimated to cost $9 million. The facility is used for the nonprofit’s K-12 education program for children with special needs.
The Charterhouse project is intended to consolidate that program in one place. Currently, it is spread throughout the campus. The addition is planned to be a separate building that will connect to the existing building via a breezeway.
The plan is to finish construction in August 2023.
The nonprofit recently completed its new $11 million Child and Family Healing Center, which is a residential treatment center for children.
UMFS is a statewide nonprofit agency headquartered at 3900 W. Broad St. It has nine offices in the state.