Opening New Homes, Breaking New Ground and Welcoming New Leaders

June 2023

Portland’s Riverplace Neighborhood Welcomes Waterleaf

In May, BRIDGE and public- and private-sector partners celebrated the ribbon-cutting of Waterleaf in Portland’s South Waterfront area. Consisting of 178 new, affordable apartments, 20 of Waterleaf’s apartment homes are set aside to serve veterans who have experienced homelessness. Waterleaf is the second and final phase of BRIDGE’s River Place Parcel 3 development. Along with The Vera’s 203 apartments from the first phase, the development brings 381 affordable apartment homes to the area.

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Future Homes for San Diego Seniors

The County of San Diego and BRIDGE celebrated the groundbreaking of Kettner Crossing in April. Built on surplus county land in San Diego’s Little Italy, the 64-apartment property will provide new apartment homes for seniors who earn 30-50% of Area Median Income.

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Family Housing in Carlsbad

This spring, The City of Carlsbad and BRIDGE celebrated the groundbreaking of 1380 Laurel Tree Lane: 70 affordable apartments for families. The property, located in an amenity-rich neighborhood near retail, employment opportunities, and schools, will be designed to achieve Green Point Rated Gold certification as well as meet the City of Carlsbad’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) measures.

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Sunrun Partnership

In April, BRIDGE and Sunrun, the nation’s leading home solar, battery storage, and clean energy-as-a-service provider, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new solar installation at Villa Loma Apartments, an affordable housing community in Carlsbad, California. The new installation serves 344 families and will help residents save an average of more than $60 per month on their electricity bills and an expected $7.5 million in total resident savings over the next 20 years.

“With today’s increasing inflation, $60 a month can be the difference between having basic necessities or not, such as buying groceries, a tank of gas, or back-to-school items for families,” said Ken Lombard, president and chief executive officer at BRIDGE Housing. “The solar panel installation at Villa Loma provides immediate cost savings to families, while providing long-term benefits to the entire community, the city of Carlsbad, and the planet.”

Avalon Eaves Acquisition

BRIDGE completed the acquisition of Avalon Eaves last month, ensuring that more than 50% of the 195 homes in resource-rich San Mateo County will remain affordable for individuals and families at workforce area median income levels. Thanks to our collaboration with National Equity Fund and Morgan Stanley, we had access to the fast, flexible funding necessary to preserve housing affordability in the newest BRIDGE Community. The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority also contributed funding and a regulatory agreement to guarantee affordability for decades. This acquisition represents an innovative approach to preserving workforce housing while we continue to add affordable housing throughout the west coast.

New Scholars on Their Way

The next round of BRIDGE Scholarship recipients have submitted their applications and recommendation letters. Look for information about BRIDGE’s fall event celebrating our recipients and generous donors. Make a gift today to support our work to promote advancement and opportunity through education! Read impact reports on two of our Scholarships here and here.

New Members Elected to Board

The BRIDGE Board of Directors was pleased to elect Stephen Richardson, Kiran Jain, Douglas M. Bibby, and Nadia Sager as its newest members.

Mr. Richardson is an executive management consultant at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., the leading owner, operator, and developer of collaborative campuses for life science, agtech, and technology companies in the nation’s top innovation clusters. He previously served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of the company from April 2018 to July 2022 and as Chief Operating Officer from October 2011 to April 2018.

Ms. Jain is the chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Replica, Inc. She also held the role of chief resilience officer for the City of Oakland and has expertise in local government, land use, real estate, and public finance.

Mr. Bibby is an experienced executive with senior leadership positions in communications, mortgage finance, and residential real estate. He most recently retired from the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), where he served as president for over 21 years and formed the council’s diversity, equity, and inclusion commitment strategy.

Ms. Sager is a partner at Latham and Watkins, where she has held multiple leadership roles, including global co-chair of the Investment Funds practice. She has been instrumental in forming several of Latham’s global diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, including co-founding the Women’s Leadership Academy and chairing Latham’s market-leading attorney diversity program.

“We are honored to welcome Steve, Kiran, Doug, and Nadia to our board,” said Kenneth Novack, chairman of the BRIDGE Board of Directors. “Their combined experience and expertise will add exceptional value as we execute on and grow our pipeline of affordable homes.”

S&P Upgrade

BRIDGE Housing is pleased to announce that the organization's credit rating with S&P has received a significant boost from A+ to AA- with a stable outlook. The upgrade is a result of our leadership, strong financial performance, and an improvement in our debt profile. In addition, the S&P team traveled to San Francisco to tour five properties and meet with BRIDGE's executive leadership team to drill down on the organization’s strategy and performance. This news strengthens BRIDGE's financial sustainability, allowing us to carry out our mission and grow to serve more people in more communities.

BRIDGE Welcomes Natalia Williams

Natalia Williams joined BRIDGE in March as Senior Vice President, Asset Management and Portfolio. Natalia brings over 15 years of financial management and multifamily housing experience to BRIDGE, with expertise in affordable housing asset management and strategy, acquisition, financing, and rehabilitation. “We’re excited to welcome Natalia to our team,” said BRIDGE President and CEO, Ken Lombard. “We look forward to her leadership in ensuring long-term strategic management of BRIDGE’s portfolio." Prior to BRIDGE, Natalia was Managing Director of Acquisitions and Development for John Stanley, Inc. Earlier, she was Senior Vice President at Bayside Communities, where she oversaw the financing, asset management, and dispositions of the company’s affordable multifamily portfolio, including capital aggregation and equity and debt for low-income housing tax credit and tax-exempt bond-financed projects.