Workforce housing real estate firm buys two San Jose apartment complexes

SAN JOSE — A real estate venture that specializes in creating affordable housing for workers has bought two apartment complexes in San Jose for more than $60 million.

Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing and Ethos Real Estate, acting through an affiliate, have paid just over $61.1 million for two apartment properties on Southwest Expressway in south San Jose, documents filed on Dec. 31 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.

Sofi at Los Gatos Creek, a 193-unit complex at 2130 Southwest Expressway; and Orchard Ridge Apartments, a 77-unit apartment property at 2032 Southwest Expressway, were bought by the Bridge Workforce and Ethos Real Estate affiliate.

The purchase price was slightly less than the assessed value of the properties, as estimated by the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

In January 2024, the combined value of the two apartment complexes was $64.3 million. The purchase price for the properties was about 5% below the latest assessed value for the two complexes.

The 193-unit Sofi at Los Gatos Creek is slated to be kept largely affordable for a wide swath of the workforce, according to a covenant between the buying alliance and the California Municipal Finance Authority.

The covenant, which was filed along with the grant deed for the property purchase, detailed the finance authority’s intention to keep the Sofi apartment complex affordable for the average worker.

This agreement dovetails with the Bridge Workforce firm’s business model and housing philosophy.

“Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing invests in multifamily communities where at least 51%-plus of our units are occupied by families earning less than 80% of the area’s median income,” the company states on its website.

The Santa Clara County area median income for a four-person household was $184,300 as of May 2024. The 80% threshold would work out to a yearly income of $147,440.

Bridge Workforce and Ethos Real Estate teamed up to buy the apartment complexes, the county real estate documents show. Like Bridge Workforce, Ethos seeks to tackle an ongoing housing shortage in the United States.

Ethos and Bridge also joined forces in October to preserve affordable housing in the Orange County city of Santa Ana.

Bridge Workforce believes affordable housing to accommodate middle-class workers is badly needed.

“There is a dire need for workforce and affordable housing,” Bridge states on its website.