In February, IFF closed loans totaling approximately $14.9 million for nine community-driven projects in the Midwest. We’ve included information below about several of the loans and what the organizations that received them are doing with the capital. To learn more about IFF’s lending, visit our Capital Solutions page.
Common Pantry
IFF closed a $500,000 gap loan to Common Pantry that allowed the organization to complete a renovation of its 4,265-square-foot facility in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood that will serve as its food pantry. Common Pantry meets the emergency needs of its local community by providing social services, weekly food distributions, home delivery, hot lunch programs, and monthly distributions of fresh fruits and vegetables, with the organization serving approximately 18,000 people in 2022. Its new facility, which was identified by IFF’s real estate team, will enable the nonprofit to increase access to its services and improve its client experience. IFF previously closed a $1.5 million loan for the project that bridged funding granted to the nonprofit through the Illinois State Capital Bill.
Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County
IFF closed a $1.5 million loan for Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County (HFHSCC) that facilitated the organization’s acquisition of roughly 11.5 acres where it will develop 46 affordable townhomes and community amenities to be sold to low-to-moderate-income families. The loan also provided the capital necessary for soft costs and site work associated with the project. Since 1997, HFHSCC has built more than 95 affordable homes in St. Charles County, MO, while also preparing families for homeownership through financial education, classes to educate homebuyers on the loan process and mortgage documents, and home maintenance workshops. It’s the third loan IFF has closed for HFHSCC, with the relationship beginning in 2016.
Gorman & Company
IFF closed a $1 million construction loan that enabled Gorman & Company to rehabilitate a historic former hotel in Wausau, WI, to create a mixed-use facility with 94 one- and two-bedroom apartments affordable to renters earning between 30 and 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). The building’s first and second floors house a variety of local businesses which contribute to the vitality of the city’s downtown, and the rehab of the facility ensured these businesses have quality spaces in which to operate. Additional sources of funding and financing for the project included a loan from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), Low Income Housing Tax Credits, federal and state historic tax credits, City of Wausau HOME funds, and a grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.
Westside Health Authority
IFF closed a bridge loan of approximately $5.58 million for Westside Health Authority (WHA) that will support the development of The Aspire Center in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood (featured in the rendering above by Lamar Johnson Collaborative, courtesy of WHA). A collaboration between WHA and Austin Coming Together, the project will create a business and career development center that will include a high-tech manufacturing training center for working age youth and adults, a business incubator for start-ups, a federally qualified health center, and a bank branch and other neighborhood-building businesses. The $40 million project will renovate a former elementary school in the neighborhood, transforming the 76,500-square-foot facility into a functional space that serves the community and its residents in multiple ways. IFF’s loan is bridging a $10 million State of Illinois Capital Grant for the project, which will leverage New Markets Tax Credits and a variety of other sources of public and private funding.