Capital Square’s First Opportunity Zone Fund Development Secures Long-Term Financing and Issues Special Distribution to Investors
August 29, 2022 | Capital Square
Capital Square, one of the nation’s leading sponsors of tax-advantaged real estate investments and a developer of mixed-use multifamily communities, announced today that their inaugural development project, an 80-unit Class A multifamily property in Richmond, Virginia, has secured long-term financing from USAA Life Insurance Company after achieving property stabilization.
As a result, investors in the project-specific CSRA Opportunity Zone Fund I, LLC will receive a special distribution that represents a 53% return of equity.
Dubbed “INK,” the 80,000-square-foot property, which includes 1,939 square feet of ground-level retail space, was built in a qualified opportunity zone in the emerging Richmond neighborhood of Scott’s Addition. INK is the first of three Capital Square development projects that comprise Scott’s Collection, a group of boutique multifamily communities within Scott’s Addition. Construction on INK began in the second quarter of 2020 and was completed in January 2022. The property achieved 100% occupancy just over five months after the completion of construction.
“The Scott’s Addition neighborhood of Richmond is quickly emerging as one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods, with soaring demand for quality multifamily communities like INK and one of the area’s highest occupancy rates,” said Whit Huffman, chief strategy and investment officer. “The success of INK and its related opportunity fund comes as no surprise, and we are extremely pleased to have delivered this high-caliber development property to its residents while also providing an early distribution to investors that far exceeds our pro forma projections.”
The private placement memorandum provided to CSRA Opportunity Fund I investors had anticipated a special distribution totaling a 36% return of equity upon securing long-term financing at the conclusion of property construction and lease-up. The special distribution is intended to provide investors with funds to pay the tax due on their deferred gains, which are taxable as a part of investors’ 2026 tax returns. Due to the exceptional performance of the property, the special distribution increased to 53%, far in excess of the 36% that was projected.
“In just three years, Capital Square has planned, constructed, permanently financed and leased 100% of the apartments in Ink at Scott’s Collection,” said Louis Rogers, founder and chief executive officer. “The project has been delivered on time, on budget and has been exceptionally well received in the market despite construction cost volatility and procurement challenges. This is a phenomenal result for investors in spite of a global pandemic that shut down major portions of the economy, along with unprecedented inflation and shortages of labor and material. Renter demand for this exceptional property has exceeded expectations and it is helping to transform Richmond’s Scott’s Addition into one of the city’s most vibrant and exciting neighborhoods.”
Capital Square currently has three other multifamily developments under construction in the Scott’s Addition opportunity zone that will deliver a total of 559 luxury apartment homes by 2023, with another 350 units planned for the neighborhood. These projects include VIV and GEM, the remaining two Scott’s Collection multifamily projects. Construction on VIV was completed in July and is currently welcoming residents, while GEM is currently pre-leasing and opening to residents in the fall. Also included is The Otis, a 350-unit joint development with Greystar that is expected to complete its first phase of construction during the fourth quarter of 2022.
Since 2019, Capital Square has initiated over $440 million in total development value across seven opportunity zone developments in fast growing markets in the Southeast. Among these is CSRA Opportunity Zone Fund VII, LLC, which seeks to raise $41.4 million from accredited investors to fund the development of an additional luxury multifamily development in the Scott’s Addition neighborhood.
Opportunity zones were created to stimulate long-term private investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. Conceived as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, opportunity zone funds are intended to help foster economic growth by providing tax benefits to incentivize private investments in designated opportunity zones.
About Capital Square
Capital Square is a national real estate firm specializing in tax-advantaged real estate investments, including Delaware statutory trusts for Section 1031 exchanges, qualified opportunity zone funds for tax deferral and exclusion and a real estate investment trust (REIT). In recent years the company has become an active developer of mixed-use multifamily properties in the southeastern US, with eight current projects totaling approximately 2,000 apartment units with a total development cost in excess of $600 million. Since 2012, Capital Square has completed more than $6.0 billion in transaction volume. Capital Square’s related entities provide a range of services, including due diligence, acquisition, loan sourcing, property/asset management, and disposition, for a growing number of high-net-worth investors, private equity firms, family offices and institutional investors. Since 2017, Capital Square has been recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation for six consecutive years. In 2017, 2018 and 2020, the company was also ranked on Richmond BizSense’s list of fastest growing companies. Additionally, Capital Square was listed by Virginia Business on their “Best Places to Work in Virginia” report in 2019 and their “Fantastic 50” reports in 2019 and 2020. To learn more, visit www.CapitalSq.com.
