LARGE MULTIFAMILY IN BAY AREA

BOBBY TURNER’S OUT TO CHANGE THE REAL ESTATE GAME

So Bobby’s new Turner Multifamily Impact Fund will buy up to $1B in properties (like these 599 units in District Heights, MD, last month) for families at 50% to 80% AMI, too much to qualify for Section 8 but too little to find convenient market-rate options. Bobby calculates that two minimum wage earning parents (whom he calls “the backbone of our economy”), spending one-third of their income on housing, can afford only $750 a month, not enough to incent developers to build or improve properties. As a result, he says, landlords are buying and repositioning B and C assets to attract higher rents. In contrast, he seeks to keep rents low by “enriching” housing to make it more attractive, thereby saving money as residential turnover is reduced. How? By subsidizing rent on some of the apartments for folks who can enhance the community: police officers, who are asked to park their squad cars outside and regularly walk around; teachers, to tutor and mentor their neighbors; and nurses, to give healthcare advice.