Horning's Deal For Hyattsville Apartments Signals Shift To Buying, Preserving Affordable Units
Horning has acquired a 288-unit apartment community in Prince George’s County and secured financing to turn it into income-restricted affordable housing, a strategy its CEO sees as a faster way to grow than ground-up development.
The local developer purchased Plaza Towers at 6700 Belcrest Road, near the Hyattsville Crossing Metro, from Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners. It declined to disclose the price, and the deal hasn't yet appeared in property records.
Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund and Prince George’s County both contributed to the acquisition financing, and the senior loan came from Freddie Mac. Amazon put up more than $18.7M in low-cost financing, and the county put in $3M from its Right of First Refusal Preservation Fund and approved a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement.
Under Horning's ownership, Plaza Towers' units will be reserved for residents at various income levels: 40%, 50%, 60% and 80% of the area median income.
The company said in a release that the deal is the largest multifamily sale in Prince George’s County over the past two years, based on its analysis of CoStar data, with the runner-up being a $24M sale in September. And it said the deal represents the largest acquisition in Horning's 70-year history.
Horning CEO Jamie Weinbaum, who joined the firm in 2023 from MidCity, told Bisnow the deal represents a strategy shift toward acquiring properties and preserving their affordability.
A for-profit, mission-driven developer, Horning has historically focused on building ground-up apartments in the region. Under its belt are projects like the mixed-use redevelopment of Tivoli Theater in Columbia Heights and The Commons at Stanton Square, home to Martha’s Table.
“We continue to be in that space, but the reality is that values are such that you can acquire properties right now for less than replacement cost,” Weinbaum said. “So it’s a better environment to be buying existing multifamily properties than it is to fund ground-up new development.”
The company has been working for years with the Menkiti Group to advance the 901 Monroe apartment project in Brookland. The partnership received three different zoning approvals, the first of which was in 2012, and each time the approvals were stripped by a judge after neighbors appealed. It is now trying for a fourth time, with a D.C. Zoning Commission hearing slated for September.
“We’ve been at it for 20 years trying to build a 200-something-unit building, and we just acquired a 288-unit building,” Weinbaum said. “It’s a different kind of thing, but it was able to add to our stock of properties and align with our mission and get done a lot quicker.”
Weinbaum said Horning is looking to do similar deals to this acquisition with other capital partners like Amazon that are looking to fund affordable housing preservation and hold properties for the long term.
“We’re really in a growth mentality,” he said.
Amazon Housing Equity Fund Managing Principal Senthil Sankaran said in a statement that the company is “grateful to partner with Prince George's County and Horning to help ensure these 288 homes remain affordable for generations of residents.”
