JOHN DRACHMAN
CO-FOUNDER
WATERFORD PROPERTY CO.
SEAN RAWSON
CO-FOUNDER
WATERFORD PROPERTY CO.
WHO: Co-founders of Newport Beach multifamily developer Waterford Property Co.
WHY: Waterford is currently the most active sponsor in the California Statewide Community Development Authority’s middle-income housing program. The company has converted thousands of market rate apartment units across Southern California into middle-income rental communities, also known as workforce housing. Waterford’s goal is to prevent middle-income residents from leaving regions like Orange County, whose cost of living is pricing many out.
IN THE NEWS: Honored for their work with middle-class housing at the Business Journal’s 23rd annual Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards in March. This year branched out into the Dallas market with the acquisition of a multifamily property.
NOTABLE: Waterford’s portfolio counts over 5,000 rental units, in a mix of market rate, affordable and workforce housing properties, a handful of office projects as well as over 2,500 units in various stages of entitlements for development. Its affordable and middle-income rental communities are in Anaheim and Long Beach, among other California cities.
IN THEIR WORDS: “I have friends that are firefighters, teachers, paramedics and nurses. Sean and I have seen firsthand how the high cost of housing has pushed them out of OC and out of state.” —John Drachman
“We see our mission to help produce more housing for them. The greatness of our country is the middle class.” —Sean Rawson
