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American South Fund Management (“ASFM”), has provided the joint venture of Portage Properties, LLC, Piedmont Private Equity and Mid-Atlantic Capital with $13.5 million of preferred equity for the development of The Preserve at Hanover Park, a 280-unit workforce housing community now under construction in Beaufort, SC.   

ASFM, a joint venture between SDS Capital Group and Vintage Realty Company, made the investment through its $174 million American South Real Estate Fund II, which provides preferred equity and equity financing for real estate sponsors with projects located emerging low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in 10 Southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas). Through ASREF II and its predecessor fund ASREF I, ASFM to date has collectively committed over $138 million to 23 projects, financing 5,429 housing units – 79% of them affordable to families at less than 80% of the AMI.   

The Preserve at Hanover will feature a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment homes housed in eight garden-style residential buildings on a nearly 20-acre site at 139 Robert Smalls Parkway.   

Unit interiors will feature high-end finishes, stainless steel appliances, smart-home technology, and in-unit washer/dryers. Common area amenities include state-of-the-art fitness center, resort-style swimming pool and pickleball courts. When completed, the Portage-led joint venture will deliver the $75 million high-quality housing community to low- and moderate-income households earning 115% or less of the area median income (“AMI”). 

This is the third investment ASFM has made with Piedmont and Portage, and now with the additional partners of Mid-Atlantic Capital. Collectively, the financing relationship has constructed 760 workforce and affordable multifamily units.   
“ASFM has been key partner in our success, enabling us to continue building quality workforce housing units across the South,” said Walter Hall, Managing Member of Piedmont Private Equity. “All of our partners in the Preserve at Hanover Park are enabling us to bring much-needed high-quality for-rent housing to the community of Beaufort.”   

According to a study by Beaufort County, half the renters in the county are rent burdened (defined as paying more than 30% of their income towards rent) with approximately one in five households severely so, which means they are paying more than 50% or more on rent and utilities. Many of these families are living in the city of Beaufort, according to, Deborah La Franchi, ASFM Managing Partner. 

“Our mission is to deploy capital to stimulate the development of not just quality rental housing, but housing that is affordable to working class Americans,” she said.   

"We are financing affordable and attainable housing units in communities that have a deep desire for this housing yet confront a stagnant supply within their communities,” added David Alexander, ASFM -Managing Partner. 

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