Avanath Capital Partners, an Irvine, Calif.-based real estate investment firm, and MacFarlane Costa Housing Partners have acquired Simpson Housing Solutions and its portfolio of 273 properties.

MacFarlane Costa Housing Partners is a joint venture between Michael Costa, president of Simpson Housing and MacFarlane Partners Affordable Housing, an affiliate of MacFarlane Partners, a San Francisco-based real estate investment management firm.

This acquisition, the price of which was not disclosed, is the first one for Avanath Capital Partners, a company founded by Daryl Carter, a former principal of Capri Capital, which was acquired by New York-based Centerline Capital Group.

The Simpson Housing portfolio totals 26,000 affordable housing apartments in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, according to Avanath Capital Partners. Simpson Housing develops, rehabilitates and manages multifamily communities that qualify for the federal low-income housing tax credit program that aims at stimulating investment in affordable housing.

 “For Avanath, the size and complexity of this transaction represent the strong impact we anticipate creating in the affordable housing business,” says Carter, CEO of Avanath. “Our ability to house deserving residents across the United States, with a particular focus on urban projects, exemplifies our mission to ‘add value to investments.’”

In the first phase of the acquisition transaction, the Simpson portfolio will be jointly owned by Avanath Affordable Capital, an Avanath Capital Partners subsidiary, and MacFarlane Costa Housing Partners.

In the second phase of the acquisition, Avanath will own the Simpson Housing portfolio. Avanath is raising equity to invest in this transaction through a fund offering for which Presidio Partners, a real estate investment banking firm, is serving as the placement agent.

MacFarlane Costa Housing Partners will retain Simpson Housing’s property development capabilities and will continue to develop about 1,000 to 1,500 of affordable housing apartment units per year.