Beverly Hills-based real estate firm BLDG Partners is the latest private developer wading into the middle-income housing preservation game.

Earlier this month, the developer and the California Municipal Finance Authority announced that it had acquired the Allure apartments at 3099 W. Chapman Avenue in Orange through the B. Under terms of the agreement, all 282 market-rate units at Allure will be reserved for households earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income, with rents set accordingly. Existing tenants who fall within that income window will see lower rents going forward, while tenants who exceed the limit are allowed to remain in place until they choose to move.

"In Orange, we are always looking for innovative ways to provide housing at all income levels, and the Allure apartments will help us meet the need for quality workforce housing in our community," said Orange Mayor Mark A. Murphy in a news release.

The Allure apartments are BLDG's second affordable housing acquisition in Orange over the past year.

The Essential Housing Program, launched in 2019, allows private developers to acquire market-rate units to preserve them as "workforce" housing using state subsidies. Properties purchased through the program are subject to limits on annual rent increases, and displacement of existing tenants is forbidden.

Some firms have made robust use of the program. Standard Communities and Faring have already worked through essential housing to convert more than 650 units into workforce housing, and plan to invest an additional $2 billion on more projects over the coming 18 months.