In July, IFF closed loans totaling approximately $21.9 million for 13 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.
Bristol Apartments
IFF closed a $1 million loan that will refinance construction debt for a 20-unit affordable housing development in Cleveland, OH, called Bristol Apartments. The property had long been a vacant and abandoned structure that created a safety hazard for residents of the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood on the city’s east side until 2020, when local developer James Sosan completed a historic rehabilitation of the facility. Utilizing both federal and state historic tax credits, along with county and city HOME funds and a construction loan from the Village Capital Corporation, the renovations were completed in 2022. Since reopening, the apartments have been fully leased, and a waiting list currently exists for future tenants. The IFF loan will enable the consolidation of debt and the repayment of third-party costs by the developer.
Central Area Betterment Association
IFF closed a $617,500 loan that provided Central Area Betterment Association (CABA) with the capital needed to acquire and renovate a 5,568-square-foot property it leased previously in Kansas City, KS, that will serve as the nonprofit’s permanent headquarters. CABA was formed in 1977 to improve the economic development, social environment, and image of Central Avenue – the primary commercial corridor in the city – and later extended its services to improve the quality of life of the residents of the city. CABA carries out its mission by promoting healthy living, neighborhood enhancement and maintenance, youth leadership education, family stability, community pride and culture, and by facilitating entrepreneurship and promoting business excellence.
CABA’s office includes eight workstations available for rent to support local entrepreneurs as they scale their small businesses. These spaces will continue to be offered, while renovations to a 1,000-square-foot storage area in the rear of the facility will provide the organization with additional office space for its own operations, as well as a conference room and classroom for tenants, partners, and community members to use. IFF’s loan will also enable CABA to purchase the furniture, fixtures, and equipment needed to outfit the renovated sections of the office. By purchasing the facility, CABA will have a permanent space for clients to access its services, programs, and amenities, while also enabling the organization to diversify its revenue streams through rental income associated with the existing workstations. As a result of the project, CABA will add one contracted position and one staff position to its payroll – creating two new jobs.
Footprints, Inc.
IFF closed a loan of approximately $2.55 million for an LLC associated with Footprints, Inc., a nonprofit based in the Ivanhoe neighborhood of Kansas City, MO, that supports clients working to overcome substance use disorders. With the capital, Footprints will develop a 24-bed facility to support the organization’s Heroes Home Gate (HHG) program (featured in the architect’s rendering above). HHG is a residential case management program for unhoused Veterans that provides more than 100 Veterans annually with short-term transitional housing, wraparound supportive services, and case management. Footprints has successfully placed more than 70 percent of HHG participants in permanent housing since launching the program in 2001. Currently operating the program out of a former hotel that the organization leases, the move to the new facility will provide Footprints with greater autonomy and enable the organization to build its net assets through ownership.
The two-story, 18,000-square-foot facility being developed will include a library, computer room, counseling rooms, commercial kitchen, gym, and communal recreation and green spaces. Veterans will receive three meals a day, safe shelter, linens, toiletry, transportation, support services, and referrals to other community resources. Located along a bus line, the location will also provide easy access to the local Veterans Affairs medical center. Additional funding and financing for the $7.7 million project is being provided by the City of Kansas City, the Federal Home Loan Bank, private foundations, corporate giving, and individual donors as Footprints conducts a capital campaign.
Full Spectrum Features
IFF provided a $150,000 line of credit to Full Spectrum Features (FSF) that will empower the arts organization based in Chicago, IL, with working capital for production costs. FSF is an award-winning nonprofit organization with a goal to educate the public about social and cultural issues by utilizing the power of cinema to foster understanding. FSF is committed to driving equity in the independent film industry by producing, exhibiting, and supporting the work of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ filmmakers. The production company’s films have been screened at more than 400 festivals, micro-cinemas, museums, galleries, and other venues globally, and their latest feature film, “The Year Between,” focusing on a college dropout struggling with a recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder, is currently available on Peacock, Apple TV, Prime Video, and Vudu.
The line of credit was provided to FSF through the MacArthur Arts and Culture Loan Fund, which is designed to help small- and medium-sized arts and culture organizations in Chicago to manage uneven cash flows and strengthen financial capacity. The program is funded by the MacArthur Foundation and administered by IFF in partnership with BDO.
Kankakee County Housing Development Corporation
IFF closed a $3.285 million construction to permanent loan that will facilitate the development of West Harbor Place, a 36-unit housing project Kankakee, IL. Being developed by the Kankakee County Housing Development Corporation – a nonprofit subsidiary of the Kankakee County Housing Authority – West Harbor Place will replace obsolete public housing on the site with two- and three-bedroom homes for residents earning 60 percent or less of the Area Median Income (AMI). Residents will pay no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent, with the housing authority entering into a Project Based Section 8 Voucher contract for all of the homes.
To be built utilizing a prefabricated framing system incorporating green energy and environmental standards, each of the homes will include energy star rated, stainless steel appliances; an attached garage; and be hard wired for internet and cable services, among other amenities. Additional sources of funding and financing for the $11.5 million project include Low Income Housing Tax Credits, U.S. Bank, the Illinois Housing Development Authority, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, Cinnaire, and the Kankakee County Housing Authority.
Lawndale Christian Development Corporation
IFF closed a loan of approximately $316,000 that provided Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC) with the capital needed to acquire a 9,000-square-foot property in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood that the nonprofit will redevelop as a commercial facility as part of a comprehensive, multi-phase development plan in the community. The property will offer affordable, high-quality space to several local organizations, including Lifting Lawndale Co-op – a worker-owned cooperative that offers back-office support services – and Art West Gallery – a community-owned, designed, and operated art space. In addition to these anchor tenants, the facility will be home to offices, a production space for a locally owned chocolate company, and retail space.
The project will contribute to a neighborhood quality of life plan developed by residents and local stakeholders in 2018 by contributing to the local tax base, adding retail to the neighborhood, and improving public safety by redeveloping a vacant property to create foot traffic in the area. IFF last provided financing to LCDC in 2020 for the acquisition of three vacant lots in North Lawndale that the organization later redeveloped as single-family homes to promote homeownership in the neighborhood.
Links Hall
IFF provided a $120,000 line of credit to Links Hall, a nonprofit arts organization based in Chicago, IL, that encourages artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development, and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Links Hall supports artists of all performance disciplines through commission and residency programs, performances, artist‐curated festivals, workshops, and subsidized studio rentals. The line of credit will be used to cover operating expenses related to grant receivables and to cover costs associated with the organization raising funds from individual and philanthropic donors as Links Hall rebuilds its cash reserve following several years of strategic pay equity work across the organization’s staff and the artists it serves.
The line of credit was provided to Links Hall through the MacArthur Arts and Culture Loan Fund, which is designed to help small- and medium-sized arts and culture organizations in Chicago to manage uneven cash flows and strengthen financial capacity. The program is funded by the MacArthur Foundation and administered by IFF in partnership with BDO.
Perspectives Charter School
IFF closed a $1.625 million loan that provided Perspectives Charter School (PCS) with financing to build out additional space at its campus in the Auburn Gresham/West Chatham neighborhood of Chicago. Launched in 1997, PCS is a public charter school that serves 2,008 students in grades 6-12 across five schools and three campuses on Chicago’s South Side. In November 2018, PCS acquired 115,000 square feet of a 225,000-square-foot building and six acres of adjacent vacant land, renovating 94,000 square feet to establish the Auburn Gresham/West Chatham campus in 2019 and building a state-of-the-art Athletic Field in 2020 – which serves as the home of Perspectives Leadership Academy, Perspectives High School of Technology and Perspectives Middle Academy. IFF’s loan – the third phase of investment in the Auburn Gresham/West Chatham campus – enabled PCS to add six additional classrooms, a multi-purpose room, and a weight room to accommodate an enrollment increase of 210 students in the freshman class for the 2023-2024 school year.
The SoulFisher Ministries
IFF closed a loan of approximately $713,000 for The SoulFisher Ministries that will enable the nonprofit based in St. Louis, MO, to proceed with renovations to a facility acquired earlier this year with the help of a different IFF loan that will support the organization’s programming. SoulFisher’s mission is to respond to the needs of youth with incarcerated parents and to promote restorative justice for those currently or formerly incarcerated. Services provided by the organization include life skills and goal setting training, case management coordination, relationship restoration, restorative justice opportunities, and access to supportive housing.
Tags: : Arts and Culture, Community Development, Housing, Loan Round-ups, Schools