Crossroads Garden

Bellevue, WA • 108 units • rehabilitation

108

Units created from distressed facility

2.5x

Equity increase for nonprofit partner

First

Recycled PAB financing in WA

Ambitious adaptive reuse of the former Sagebrook Assisted Living facility—which experienced extreme distress during COVID and permanently closed in 2023—into 108 units of affordable housing in one of the region's highest-cost markets. Rather than demolishing structures thought to be at end of life, Great Expectations SPC pioneered an innovative financing approach that preserved the buildings and created one of the only new affordable housing properties in Bellevue, WA completed with no local subsidy.

The Challenge

The site was slated for redevelopment as market-rate townhouses, but its excellent high-opportunity location near Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, WA presented a rare chance to create affordable housing in a market that desperately needed it. The existing structures from the failed assisted living facility were considered end-of-life, and conventional financing wouldn't support the ambitious renovation required.

Our Approach

• Pioneered Washington State's first Recycled Private Activity Bond financing, securing permanent tax exemption and advantageous low-cost interest rates
• Partnered with AOF/Pacific Housing Foundation and the Amazon Housing Equity Fund to assemble the capital stack
• Completely renovated both buildings, adding full kitchens to 70 units that lacked them
• Brought the entire property up to modern building codes and standards while preserving embodied carbon
• Structured as 75% of units at 60% AMI, creating workforce housing accessible to teachers, nurses, and service workers
• Arboreal managed the lease-up, achieving full occupancy rapidly

The Result

Successfully transformed a distressed, vacant facility into 108 units of high-quality affordable housing without any local subsidy—a rare achievement in Bellevue's expensive housing market. The property appraised at stabilization showing a 2.5x increase in equity value for our nonprofit limited partner, demonstrating both social and financial impact.