Housing Securities Venture for CSFB

Credit Suisse First Boston is teaming up with the Related Cos., a New York-based real estate merchant bank, to bring securitization to the affordable housing arena.

Through CreditRe Mortgage Capital, a joint venture unveiled Wednesday, the partners will focus on structuring tax-exempt multifamily transactions, derivative and leveraged trusts, and acquiring fee interest and pools of performing and subperforming debt.

For Credit Suisse First Boston, the venture will broaden the kinds of assets it securitizes. Tax-exempt multifamily properties is an "area of business we see expanding greatly in the next few years," said Edward Santoro, a managing director in the firm's principal transaction group.

CreditRe will seek to fund through securitization the construction or renovation of affordable housing properties, including tax-exempt "80-20" properties, where 80% is rented to conventional tenants and 20% to people with income below affordable-housing levels.

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