A major Sacramento apartment complex is on track to change hands, with Step Up Housing moving to buy the 268-unit Copper Creek Apartments in the Foothills Farms/West Citrus Heights area and convert most of the homes to income-restricted housing. If the sale closes, the garden-style community will shift from private to nonprofit ownership.
As reported by the Sacramento Business Journal, Step Up plans to close escrow on the Copper Creek property, though the story notes that terms of the deal were not disclosed.
How the purchase would be financed
A public legal notice shows the California Municipal Finance Authority could issue up to $82,000,000 in qualified 501(c)(3) bonds to finance or refinance the acquisition and rehabilitation of Copper Creek. The notice states that repayment obligations would be limited to project revenues and that a TEFRA review was scheduled to consider the issuance, with the filing posted in county legal notices. The Daily Recorder details the bond filing and the logistics of the hearing.
Property snapshot
Copper Creek is listed at 6430 Verner Avenue and contains 268 apartments, according to Yardi Matrix. Public listings and apartment pages describe it as a garden-style community made up mostly of one- and two-bedroom units in the Foothills Farms/West Citrus Heights submarket. Apartments.com shows floor plans along with additional details on the surrounding neighborhood.
Who is Step Up
Step Up is a California nonprofit that acquires and operates housing for low- and moderate-income households. Its website lists Sacramento among its locations and describes a mission focused on preserving affordable homes. Step Up has been active in the broader region, and recent preservation purchases, including a Vallejo acquisition covered by local outlets, illustrate a playbook that uses structured financing to lock in long-term affordability. one such Bay Area purchase was highlighted in coverage of the Vallejo deal.
What tenants might expect
When properties convert from market-rate to nonprofit ownership, the deals typically come with rehabilitation budgets, long-term affordability covenants and tenant protections built into regulatory agreements. The specific income targets can vary from transaction to transaction, depending on how the financing is structured.
As one example of how these deals are sometimes put together, a CMFA staff report for a different Step Up transaction shows post-acquisition unit restrictions split between households at roughly 50% and 80% of area median income. Deals are often underwritten using similar templates when the goal is long-term preservation.
Next steps and timeline
Before any bonds can be sold and escrow can close, the borrower must clear TEFRA review and complete underwriting. The county filing outlines a public comment and hearing process for those steps. Once financing and underwriting are finalized, the nonprofit and its lenders will set a firm closing date and release more details in regulatory documents about rehabilitation plans and tenant protections. The Daily Recorder notes the public hearing procedures and the bond parameters tied to the filing…