Salem, OR (May 16, 2025) – To prevent the displacement of hundreds of families, Vital Housing (Vital), Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise), and BWE have preserved Orchard Park, a 224-home affordable apartment community in Salem, Oregon. This acquisition and recapitalization restores affordability protections and ensures the property will remain accessible to residents earning up to 60% of the area median income (AMI).
Built in 1993, Orchard Park was the largest affordable housing community in Oregon outside of Portland, serving families earning below 60% AMI. When its Low-Income Housing Tax Credit affordability restrictions expired in 2021, the previous owner increased rents for more than 70 units. To prevent a full market-rate conversion, Enterprise and AC Orchard Park (then Aberdeen Capital) acquired the property in September 2023 with $10.44 million in equity from Enterprise’s real estate equity business. BWE structured the fixed rate bridge loan of $21.81 million. The acquisition was also supported by the State of Oregon and the Salem County Housing Authority.
Most recently, to lock in long-term affordability and continue improving the property for residents, Enterprise’s housing tax credit business recapitalized Orchard Park in March with $11.4 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity. BWE also provided the fixed rate construction to permanent financing of $45.3 million as part of its bridge-to-bond purchase program. Now, Orchard Park’s affordability will be guaranteed until 2065.
“This was a complex transaction from start to finish and required a creative approach from the entire team. The Enterprise and BWE teams have been great partners over the years, and our shared mission of preserving affordable housing enabled us to prevent the displacement of 224 households. This partnership is a testament to the results that can be achieved when mission-driven organizations come together with urgency and purpose,” said Corey Baldwin, director of acquisitions at Vital Housing and principal of AC Orchard Park.
“This was a perfect example of how a sponsor leveraged the One Enterprise model to acquire the property by using a multitude of resources the Enterprise/BWE platform has to offer,” added Ilya Weinstein, senior vice president at BWE. “The sponsor utilized Enterprise’s real estate equity platform alongside BWE’s bridge capabilities to first acquire the property and preserve affordability. Vital then worked with Enterprise and BWE to close on the 4% bond resyndication to further recapitalize and rehabilitate the property.”
Orchard Park consists of 14 garden-style residential buildings with one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. The community features a clubhouse, swimming pool, and playground, with garages and carports. All units include dishwashers, in-unit washer/dryers, private storage, and patios or balconies. Community improvements have also been made, including restoration of previous fire damage, accessibility upgrades, enhanced security features, and improvements to shared community spaces.
"Working with our partners at Enterprise and Vital, we were able to create a streamlined debt structure that provided certainty of execution on this deal," said Jim Gillespie, executive vice president at BWE. "By utilizing BWE's innovative bridge-to-bond purchase program, we provided the sponsor with a single source of capital that allowed them to close on both financings in under two years, all while maintaining strong terms through a period of economic uncertainty.”
The acquisition and recapitalization of Orchard Park comes amid a cresting wave of affordability expirations in Oregon and across the country. According to the Oregon Housing and Community Services, 94 rent-restricted properties—more than 5,800 units—are at risk of losing affordability protections over the next decade alone.
“Preserving the long-term affordability of Orchard Park is essential to the residents who have built their lives there,” said Lori Chatman, president of capital at Enterprise. “Enterprise is proud to safeguard this community through the mission-driven capital of our investment platform. With our dedicated partners, we’re ensuring these homes remain accessible to Salem’s families for the long-term—and building a blueprint for the preservation of affordable housing nationwide.”
###
About Vital Housing
Vital Housing is a mission-driven organization dedicated to the long-term preservation of affordable housing across the Pacific Northwest. By partnering with public and private stakeholders, Vital Housing secures at-risk communities, extends affordability protections, and enhances housing stability for low- and moderate-income families. Through strategic investment and rehabilitation, Vital works to ensure that quality, affordable homes remain within reach for generations to come.
About Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise's housing credit investments business and Enterprise's real estate equity business are affiliates of Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $72 billion and created 1 million homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging. Join us at enterprisecommunity.org.
About BWE
BWE stands as a national, full-service commercial and multifamily mortgage banking company committed to elevating real estate financing. Putting clients’ goals first, our experienced and trusted advisors offer comprehensive capital solutions by combining enduring debt and equity relationships with unparalleled local market insights across our 40+ offices and national servicing platform. Explore more about BWE at www.bwe.com.