Treasury Announces $5 Billion in New Markets Tax Credit Awards to Revitalize Low-Income and Distressed Communities
Baltimore, MD – Treasurer of the United States Chief Lynn Malerba, joined by U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, U.S. Representative Kweisi Mfume, and Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) Director Jodie Harris, today announced more than $5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) awards nationwide. Speaking at the recently redeveloped Lexington Market […]
Training and Lending Capital Available Through Our Building Business Success (BBS) Program
Civic Community Partners (Civic) has launched the Building Business Success (BBS) Program which focuses on building capacity and growing small businesses. This program primarily focuses on Minority Owned Business Entities (MBEs) and/or Disadvantaged Business Entities (DBEs) who are providing services to anchor institutions or working within the construction industry. The program currently has $1.5 million in lending capital available. The BBS Program offers training and resources that are designed to help build the competitive procurement capacity of small to medium-sized businesses by providing comprehensive small business education, building social capital, and increasing access to working capital.
The BBS program has been established to addresses four major areas that often limit the growth and success of MBEs/DBEs:
- the lack of financial capital;
- the lack of social capital;
- the lack of a comprehensive business education; and
- the lack of equitable access to procurement opportunities and a fair selection process.
The first barrier facing MBEs and DBEs is the lack of “Financial Capital.” Owners of MBEs/DBEs often lack access to financial capital in comparison to their counterparts. The BBS program seeks to address this by providing business loans to MBEs/DBEs who meet Civic’s underwriting criteria. These loans provide working capital with flexible underwriting terms that consider the limited net-worth, collateral and credit histories generally prevalent among DBEs. The loans may be used to purchase necessary supplies and equipment or to pay for staffing. Loans will be secured by contracts with major anchor institutions such as governmental entities, educational entities and large regional institutions.
The second barrier facing MBEs and DBEs is the lack of “Social Capital” and business networks. Social Capital allows businesses to form relationships with a network of similar businesses or businesses that may be seeking the services of MBEs or DBEs. Additionally, Social Capital is a resource that a growing business can utilize to seek advice or troubleshoot issues with trusted colleagues or subject matter experts. To help MBEs/DBEs develop Social Capital, the BBS Program will recruit and introduce numerous subject matter experts within the fields of small business and supplier diversity. This network of participating advisors, mentors, and other business owners will deliver the trainings that are essential to the success of the participants.
The third major barrier facing MBEs and DBEs is the lack of educational resources for small businesses. Business education is necessary to empower small businesses to grow. The educational opportunities include business planning, project budgeting, marketing, compliance, human resources management, risk mitigation financing, and the importance of obtaining the proper certifications as well as the necessary bonding or insurance requirements to do business with anchor institutions. Civic underwrites the workshops and coordinates with strategic partners to deliver the training portion of the program.
The first BBS training cohort is currently underway with 24 local business owners participating in the online training. Participants in the BBS program gain valuable insight into the procurement processes and access to mentors from co-sponsors, National CORE and the Council for Supplier Diversity as well as the opportunity to network with peers thereby building their personal and professional social capacity.
To address the fourth barrier facing MBEs/DBEs, lack of access to procurement opportunities, Civic will collaborate with regional partners such as the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, University of San Diego, and the Council for Supplier Diversity and other regional anchor institutions and stakeholders. The goal of this collaboration is to work with the local anchor institutions to identify and remove procurement barriers to create a more diverse and equitable selection process of MBEs or DBEs.
Thank you to Opportunity Finance Network and Pacific Western Bank for your recent contributions and support of the BBS Program.
For information on upcoming BBS trainings or to request information about the lending program contact Gustavo Bidart, Manager, Economic and Community Development at bidart@civiccommunities.com.
Civic Communities Offers Capital Lending Solutions
Civic Communities offers tailored capital lending programs to non-profits, businesses, projects, and community facilities in San Diego County that may not have access to traditional financing. Our objective is to provide financing to projects or businesses in low-income neighborhoods, that support low-income residents, and provide affordable housing and/or community facilities.
The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program is a federal tax credit program that promotes investment in businesses and community facilities located in low-income communities. In exchange for a qualified equity investment, pursuant to the NMTC program requirements, an investor is provided a tax credit. The proceeds of the equity investment are utilized to fund
low-income community businesses located in qualified census tracts.
Civic’s Community Impact loans are targeted towards real estate development or community projects that provide community benefits such as health clinics or youth facilities. The loans typically range from $50,000 to $1 million with 6-8% interest rates, flexible terms and underwriting for businesses and nonprofits that can’t qualify for standard bank financing.
Civic’s Housing Impact loans and equity investments provide financing for affordable and middle-income housing with a focus on low-income communities. The loans and investments typically range from $250,000 to $1 million and have flexible rates and terms.
The Civic Communities “Building Business Success Program” focuses on building the capacity of small businesses to competitively bid on procurement opportunities with public, private, and government institutions in San Diego County. The program provides working capital business loans to Minority Owned Businesses (MBEs) and Disadvantaged Businesses (DBEs) with flexible underwriting terms that are sensitive to the limited net-worth, collateral, and credit histories generally prevalent among MBEs/DBEs.
$178 Million Invested in Economically Challenged San Diego Neighborhoods
Since 2012, Civic Communities has invested $178 million into economically challenged neighborhoods, furthering the agency’s mission to boost quality of life for San Diego’s underserved residents.
This has been done through the use of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs), a federal program that deploys tax credits for projects that create quality jobs, or provide programs or services in disadvantaged communities. Projects must be located in or directly benefit a community within selected areas.
Congress launched the New Markets Tax Credit program in 2000 with hopes of driving business and real estate investment in disadvantaged communities. Civic is qualified to receive and grant these federal tax credits because in 2012 it established Civic Community Partners, which earned its certification as a Community Development Entity (CDE) — one of the main requirements to participate in the program.
“Over the past five years, Civic has done an exceptional job of securing and deploying these tax credits,” explained Civic President & CEO Andrew Phillips. “Because of our excellent track record, we’ve been able to secure more tax credits than most local agencies.” “We allocate these tax credits to attract investments in order to create high-impact projects in low-income communities,” he added.
Highlights of the program’s success are:
Living Rooms at the Border by Casa Familiar is adaptive re-use of the Mount Carmel Catholic Church in San Ysidro. The new space includes a theatre, the UCSD Border Community Station, the “El K-Fe” Youth Barista training program, and 10 affordable rental housing units. Civic Community Partners provided $9.325M in NMTCs for the development.
YMCA Supportive Housing in the City of Escondido is a 25-unit apartment complex to expand the YMCAs existing Transitional Housing & Youth Development program and streamline the YMCAs efforts aimed to end youth homelessness. A total of $6.7M was used for the acquisition and rehabilitation of this project.
San Diego County Office of Education’s Momentum Learning School is home to an innovative educational campus, which serves disadvantaged youths who are often homeless, teen mothers, or involved in the criminal justice system. In addition to a more traditional classroom program the school also offers independent study alternatives including a barista program, culinary arts, and an entrepreneur program. $7.1M in NMTCs were used to renovate this facility.
Jackie Robinson Family YMCA serves the severely distressed Southeastern neighborhood of San Diego. Over 30% of the 6,876 residents living within a half-mile radius of the project live below the poverty line. This facility provides the YMCA’s Before and After School, Character Builders, and Prime Time programs, giving neighborhood youth of all ages a physically and emotionally safe environment. A total of $23M in NMTCs were used to help build this facility.
Urban Corps of San Diego County increased services to their 200 charter school students; produced an 87% graduation rate; helped 69% of graduates find employment and 22% enroll in college. Additionally, Urban Corps helps support the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan through their environmental services program, which trains young adults to install trees and maintains urban habitat within throughout San Diego. Urban Corps leveraged $8M in NMTCs to increase services.
Family Health Centers of San Diego a new 34,300 square-foot Health, Information Technology, and Education Center (HITEC) facility located in Oak Park that houses an approximately 3,000 square foot community health clinic and also a health information technology education and training center. $16.5M in NMTCs were used for this project.
Copley-Price Family YMCA a new, state-of-the-art facility located in City Heights at Fairmount and El Cajon Boulevard. The 53,000 square-foot facility features an aquatics center, fitness center, group exercise studios, teen center, gymnasium, soccer arena, computer lab, child-care center, demonstration kitchen and a community meeting room. $23M in NMTCs were used for this project.
There is more to come. Civic has secured an allocation of $50M, bringing the total allocation to $213 million, and has already invested $15 million with Family Health Centers and committed more than $25 million to Access Youth Academy and San Ysidro Health.
“This new award will allow us to create jobs, deliver heath care, provide supportive services and offer training programs for San Diego residents who have the greatest needs,” explained Phillips.
Civic is actively working to find more qualifying projects to receive this type of investment. In order to qualify, a project must be located in, or directly benefit, an economically challenged community by creating quality jobs, or providing goods or services to underserved residents.
To present Civic with a potential project, or to learn more about how the program works, please contact Joanna Whitley Broussard and whitley@civiccommunities.com.
Civic Closes New Markets Tax Credit Investment for Access Youth Academy
Civic announced today the closing of a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investment of $4 million for Access Youth Academy.
Access Youth Academy is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 with the belief that every child should have equal access to achieve their full potential, and that the San Diego community could benefit from an educational support program which uses the sport of squash as a catalyst to transform the lives of underserved youth. To date, Access Youth Academy has supported more than $6 million in student earned scholarships for college.
The project will result in a new, two-story, 21,500 square-foot structure that will house a nine-court, state-of-the-art squash and learning center. It will provide services to approximately 1,300 local students, scaling up from the 120 students served at its current location. A portion of the building will house three classrooms used for academic studies and tutoring sessions, a computer lab for college prep and admissions assistance, a conference room for meetings and workshops, a technology center, multipurpose meeting rooms and instructional space, staff offices, a kitchen/break room, and a parent lounge. The facility will blend sports, academics, and opportunities to offer training and classes for the public.
“We are very excited to be a part of this new project in the community,” said Andrew Phillips, Interim President of Civic San Diego. “The project is located within the San Diego Promise Zone and helps meet an identified need for youth education and after school programs.”
The New Markets Tax Credit Program, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in vehicles known as Community Development Entities (CDEs). The CDEs in turn use the capital raised to make investments in low-income communities.
To date, the Civic San Diego Economic Growth and Neighborhood Investment Fund (a CDE) has received and invested $133 million in tax credit allocation in San Diego’s underserved communities. Civic’s NMTC Program provides below market financing with flexible terms to support high impact projects located in underserved neighborhoods. Civic’s strategy is to provide NMTC loans that enable disadvantaged businesses to grow, create quality jobs, and deliver critical goods and services to San Diego’s low-income residents. This can apply to different types of projects, including mixed-use, office, retail and health care.
Civic is actively working to identify qualifying projects to receive this type of investment.
Targeted Investment Requirements:
- For-profit or non-profit entities are eligible
- Total project cost in the $8 – $20 million range (NMTC equity typically provides about 20%)
- Funding is for real estate development or to support ongoing operations
- The balance of project financing has been identified
- Site control and entitlements are already in place
- Project needs to provide a strong community benefit, including job creation
- Project has local community support
Eligible Communities:
Projects located in highly distressed areas in the County of San Diego that have one or more of the following characteristics:
- Poverty rates greater than 30%
- Unemployment rates at least 1.5 times the national average
- Median income less than 60% of area median income
- Other distress factors such as designated food deserts or medically underserved areas
To present Civic with potential projects for NMTC funding, contact Joanna Whitley Broussard at whitley@civiccommunities.com.
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Civic Closes New Markets Tax Credit Loan for Casa Familiar’s “Living Rooms at the Border”
Civic announced a $9.325 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investment with Living Rooms at Casa, an affiliate of Casa Familiar, Inc., to construct a new, 13,469-square-foot community-focused mixed-use development.
“Living Rooms at the Border is a project whose time has come,” said Kurt Chilcott, Chairman of Casa Familiar’s Board of Directors. “This incredible, unique and innovative development will help transform not just the community of San Ysidro, but the greater practice of community development.”
Originally built in 1927 as the first Mount Carmel Catholic Church, this structure will be adaptively re-used to establish “El Salon.” El Salon will be the new space for the expansion of Casa’s art and culture programming that will host a theatre and pop-up events with other San Diego arts and culture institutions. The “Casa-Patio” will house the UCSD Border Community Station, which serves as an urban laboratory that promotes interaction and collaboration with the community to address social and economic issues and support community development.
Casa Familiar’s Social Services Center (across the street from the project site) has seen an increase in demand and the project will provide office space to accommodate additional community workers, and office space for other arts and culture institutions seeking to reach this disadvantaged community. A 120 square-foot coffee kiosk will support the “El K-Fe” Youth Barista training program to provide employment opportunities for youth ages 16-24. Additionally, the project will include 10 affordable rental housing units.
“We are very excited to be a part of this new project that is sure to revitalize as well as bring new opportunities to a flourishing community,” said Andrew Phillips, Interim President of Civic San Diego. “Casa Familiar has done great things with the resources that they have, and we are proud that we are able to leverage their resources with the New Markets Tax Credit program. We look forward to the new housing units and the range of new services that will become available to the community as result of this project.”
In 2012, Civic formed the Civic San Diego Economic Growth and Neighborhood Investment Fund to become certified as a Community Development Entity. The main role of the Community Development Entity is to secure New Markets Tax Credit funds as well as manage Qualifying Low-Income Community Investments to continue the work of revitalizing San Diego’s underserved neighborhoods. Civic has received four allocations of New Markets Tax Credit totaling $133 million from the United States Department of the Treasury.
Congress established the New Markets Tax Credit program in 2000 to drive investment in both businesses and real estate projects in low-income communities. The program attracts investment capital to these communities by allowing corporations and individuals to receive a credit against their Federal income taxes in exchange for making direct equity investments in entities such as Civic. With the new Casa Familiar project, for instance, Civic provided $9.325 million in New Markets Tax Credits that were then purchased by Citibank to provide flexible financing to support the construction.
Civic is actively working to identify qualifying projects to receive this type of investment. In order to qualify, a project must be located in, or directly benefit, a low-income community by creating quality jobs, or providing goods or services to low-income persons. This form of financing is intended to provide no more than 20 percent of a project’s total cost, and is best suited for large capital projects of $8 million or more. To present Civic with potential projects for New Markets Tax Credit funding, contact Michael Lengyel at lengyel@civicsd.com.
Goodwill San Diego Opens New Community Employment Center in Collaboration with Civic and New Markets Tax Credits
In December 2017, Civic closed a $12.6 million New Markets Tax Credit investment to Goodwill Industries of San Diego County to fund improvements to the two buildings in San Ysidro to repurpose them as an outlet center and a distribution facility and to make improvements to an existing storefront in San Ysidro to add a Community Employment Center. Today, Goodwill Industries unveiled to the community the new employment center that it calls its starship in the south bay.
“We are very grateful to Civic San Diego for helping us financially support this project through the funding of New Market Tax Credits,” said Toni Giffin, Goodwill San Diego’s President & CEO.
In 2012, Civic formed the Civic San Diego Economic Growth and Neighborhood Investment Fund to become certified as a Community Development Entity. The main role of the Community Development Entity is to secure New Markets Tax Credit funds as well as manage Qualifying Low-Income Community Investments to continue the work of revitalizing San Diego’s underserved neighborhoods. Civic has received four allocations of New Markets Tax Credit totaling $133 million from the United States Department of the Treasury.
Congress established the New Markets Tax Credit program in 2000 to drive investment in both businesses and real estate projects in low-income communities. The program attracts investment capital to these communities by allowing corporations and individuals to receive a credit against their Federal income taxes in exchange for making direct equity investments in entities such as Civic. With the new Goodwill facilities, for instance, Civic provided $12.6 million in New Markets Tax Credits that were then purchased by Capital One to provide flexible financing to support the acquisition of buildings and the tenant improvements to open the new outlet store and employment center that will be a benefit to the San Ysidro community.
“We are very excited to be a partner with Goodwill Industries on this project,” said Andrew Phillips, Interim President of Civic. “Both employees and employers will benefit from the new training center and the multitude of programs and workshops offered by Goodwill Industries and the community will benefit from the new meeting space.”
Civic is actively working to identify qualifying projects to receive this type of investment. In order to qualify, a project must be located in, or directly benefit, a low-income community by creating quality jobs, or providing goods or services to low-income persons. This form of financing is intended to provide no more than 20 percent of a project’s total cost, and is best suited for large capital projects of $8 million or more. To present Civic with potential projects for New Markets Tax Credit funding, contact Michael Lengyel at lengyel@civiccommunities.com.
Civic’s Economic Growth Fund Closes $10M New Markets Tax Credit Loan to Ajinomoto Foods
Civic announced today a $10 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investment with Ajinomoto Foods North America. Ajinomoto Foods manufactures and markets a wide variety of high-quality specialty frozen food products, including Asian, Italian, Mexican, custom and private brand products. In March, Tyson Foods announced plans to relocate its San Diego operations, resulting in the elimination of 480 full-time jobs from its Otay Mesa plant. Ajinomoto purchased the 165,763 square-foot plant and retained 352 jobs. The $10 million investment from the Economic Growth Fund is financing equipment and building improvements to add a third manufacturing production line in 2019 that is anticipated to support 80 to 100 new jobs over the next couple of years.
“We are very excited to partner with Ajinomoto Foods on this project,” said Andrew Phillips, Interim President of Civic. “The support of our manufacturing firms is a key component of the economic prosperity element of the recently adopted Otay Mesa Community Plan and this project will not only add new jobs, but it will also support small businesses in and around Otay Mesa that will provide products and services to Ajinomoto.”
In 2012, Civic formed the Civic San Diego Economic Growth and Neighborhood Investment Fund to become certified as a Community Development Entity. The main role of the Community Development Entity is to secure New Markets Tax Credit funds as well as manage Qualifying Low-Income Community Investments to continue the work of revitalizing San Diego’s underserved neighborhoods. Civic has received four allocations of New Markets Tax Credit totaling $133 million from the United States Department of the Treasury.
Congress established the New Markets Tax Credit program in 2000 to drive investment in both businesses and real estate projects in low-income communities. The program attracts investment capital to these communities by allowing corporations and individuals to receive a credit against their Federal income taxes in exchange for making direct equity investments in entities such as Civic. With the new Goodwill facilities, for instance, Civic provided $10 million in New Markets Tax Credits that were then purchased by US Bank to provide flexible financing to support the building’s improvements and purchase of new equipment to add the new production line.
“To date, Civic has closed eights transactions totaling more than $100 million,” said Michael Lengyel, Assistant Vice President of Economic Development of Civic. “These transactions have supported the construction or rehabilitation of more than 400,000 square feet of real estate and has supported the retention and creation of more than 700 permanent jobs.”
Civic is actively working to identify qualifying projects to receive this type of investment. To qualify, a project must be located in, or directly benefit, a low-income community by creating quality jobs, or providing goods or services to low-income persons. This form of financing is intended to provide no more than 20 percent of a project’s total cost and is best suited for large capital projects of $8 million or more. To present Civic with potential projects for New Markets Tax Credit funding, contact Michael Lengyel at lengyel@civiccommunities.com.
Civic Closes New Markets Tax Credit Loan to Goodwill Industries of San Diego County
San Ysidro will soon be home to a new Goodwill Industries outlet center, distribution center and community employment center thanks to a $12.6 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investment made by Civic.
The funds will help Goodwill Industries improve two recently purchased buildings in San Ysidro totaling around 75,000 square feet. Those buildings will be repurposed for an outlet center and a distribution center. The NMTC investment will also fund the addition of a community employment center at the existing storefront in San Ysidro. Additionally, rooftop solar systems will be installed at both new locations plus three additional Goodwill facilities in San Diego and Chula Vista.
“We are very excited to partner with Goodwill Industries on this project,” said Reese A. Jarrett, president of Civic San Diego. “Employees and residents will benefit from a multitude of programs offered including employment placement services for young adults from low-income neighborhoods; help for low-income residents to transition to full-time employment; job training and placement for military veterans; and neighborhood retail services.”
Since 2012, Civic has invested more than $97 million into economically challenged San Diego neighborhoods through New Markets Tax Credits, a federal program established in 2000 that deploys tax credits for projects that create quality jobs, or provide programs or services, in disadvantaged communities. Projects must be located in or directly benefit a community within selected areas.
Civic has received four allocations of New Markets Tax Credit totaling $133 million from the United States Department of the Treasury. The program attracts investment capital to these communities by allowing corporations and individuals to receive a credit against their federal income taxes in exchange for making direct equity investments in entities such as Civic.
With the new Goodwill facilities, for instance, Civic provided $12.6 million in New Markets Tax Credits that were then purchased by Capital One to provide flexible financing to support the building and site improvements to open the new outlet store and employment center that will be a benefit to the San Ysidro community.
Civic is actively working to identify qualifying projects to receive this type of investment. In order to qualify, a project must be located in, or directly benefit, a low-income community by creating quality jobs, or providing goods or services to low-income persons. This form of financing is intended to provide no more than 20 percent of a project’s total cost, and is best suited for large capital projects of $8 million or more.
To present Civic with potential projects for New Markets Tax Credit funding, contact Michael Lengyel at lengyel@civiccommunities.com.
