Affordable Housing Preservation Corp. paid developer Toll Brothers and its partners, Global City Development and RER Ventures, $168.5M for the 21-story Lapis building in Sweetwater. AHPC funded the acquisition with $193.8M in tax-exempt and taxable bond financing from the Public Finance Authority.
The funding was issued across three bond series, and once the bonds are fully paid off, FIU can take ownership of the building at no cost. The deal includes a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal with the city of Sweetwater.
Toll Brothers and its partners finished the 293-unit building with about 1,086 beds in 2023. Net cash flow from the property is planned to be dedicated to a scholarship fund to offer free housing to eligible FIU students.
UMB Bank NA served as the trustee, and J.P. Morgan Securities served as the underwriter. Holland & Knight's Vivian de las Cuevas-Diaz, Tomás Castellanos, Jorge Escobar and Aly Arencibia represented Global City Development and RER Ventures in the bond financing deal.