UKS Handles Acquisition of Troubled Clay Arsenal Apartments Project in Hartford

UKS attorneys, shareholder Brian C. Courtney and associate Emily R. McCarthy, represented Omni America in the acquisition of a 150 unit scattered site Project-Based apartment project in Hartford in December 2021. The Project had a checkered past – a prior owner died and the property fell into foreclosure by HUD, and more recently the tenant organization lobbied the City and HUD for a change in ownership. Omni has pledged to invest over $6 million to rehab the more than 20 buildings comprising the Project, as well as to construct a leasing office and community center that can be used by all of the residents. UKS handled all aspects of the transaction which took more than a year to finalize – including the negotiation of a tax abatement agreement with the City, the approval of a variance for the new community center, and the financing of the project, which included bonds issued by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, bridge financing from KeyBank for the 4% low income housing tax credits awarded the Project, and the negotiation of the partnership agreement with CREA as the tax credit investor.

Brian C. Courtney represents lenders and borrowers in all forms of real estate development and financing, including commercial lending, asset based lending, real estate and construction finance, equipment finance, bond transactions, and mezzanine finance, with a particular emphasis on affordable and multifamily housing. He counsels clients on structuring joint ventures for affordable housing projects, HUD-insured lending, and financing through government agencies such as the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. He can be reached at 860 548-2665 or bcourtney@uks.com.

Emily R. McCarthy is an associate in the firm's Hartford office where she practices in the areas of venture capital and private equity, technology and emerging companies, debt and equity financing, and commercial lending and banking. She can be reached at 860 548-2697 or emccarthy@uks.com.