Ascenda Capital Plans to Transition Latitude33 to Rent-Restricted

Ascenda Capital, in partnership with the California Municipal Finance Authority, recently closed on the $97 million acquisition of Latitude33 Apartments, a 198-unit apartment community in downtown Escondido, CA. Ascenda Capital will be transitioning the property built in 2012 from a market-rate community to a rent-restricted community that provides housing for middle-income families.

The transaction was approved by the Escondido City Council with a unanimous 5-0 vote. This acquisition marks just the second acquisition in San Diego County through California’s Essential Housing Program.

Ascenda Capital, acting as the project administrator, will be reserving all of the units at Latitude33 to provide housing for families earning between 60 to 120 percent of area median income in San Diego County. These families include first responders, nurses, teachers, social workers, military personnel and other workers that are essential to the community of Escondido. Ascenda will immediately decrease rents for new qualified residents at the property. Residents that do not qualify will not be displaced and may continue living at the community indefinitely.

“As we transition the property from market rate to affordable housing, we will be reducing rents at the property by an average of 26.5 percent when compared to market rents in Escondido,” said Matt Avital, principal and founder of Ascenda Capital.