March 2022 Loan Round-up April 1, 2022

In March, IFF closed five loans totaling $6.63 million and provided three New Markets Tax Credit allocations totaling $23 million for community-driven projects in the Midwest. We’ve included information below about several of the projects and the organizations completing them. To learn more about IFF’s lending, visit our Capital Solutions page.

Academy for Global Citizenship

IFF closed a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) deal that provided K-8 public charter school Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC) with a $9 million allocation to offset costs associated with the redevelopment of a six-acre site on the Southwest Side of Chicago to create a community wellness, learning, and sustainability hub. The $53.14 million campus (rendering featured above) will include a 71,000-square-foot facility that will enable AGC to bring its operations under one roof, an early childhood education center, a federally qualified health center, and a community produce market and café. The campus will also feature an urban farm with 12 hoop houses, a production greenhouse, and a learning barn with rescued livestock; a facility for AGC to host educator training; natural play areas, educational wetlands, and orchards; and parking for electric cars and bicycles. Sustainability is a major focus of the project, and the campus will achieve net-positive energy and water once completed by using 50 geothermal wells, 500 kW of solar panels, rain capture, natural water purification, and water recycling.

The project will create 32 new K-8 seats for AGC students, the majority of whom are low-income and 91 percent of whom are Hispanic; create 120 ECE seats; provide access to quality health care and behavioral services to more than 1,200 people annually; and facilitate year-round, hands-on nutrition education via the urban farm and teaching kitchens. Additional NMTCs for the project are being allocated by BMO Harris Bank, Rose Urban Green, Dudley Ventures, and the National Development Council, with US Bank serving as the equity investor. Other funding sources for the project include an Illinois state capital grant, private grant funding, and borrower equity.

Clearbrook

IFF closed a $450,000 loan for Clearbrook that will enable the nonprofit to acquire a single-family home in Northbrook, IL, and complete renovations necessary to convert it to a Community Integrated Living Arrangement (CILA) where four adults with developmental disabilities can live and receive clinical support services from the nonprofit. IFF originally approved the loan in November 2020, but difficulty finding a suitable property in an increasingly competitive housing market necessitated an extension of the original approval. Clearbrook was founded in the 1950s by parents in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago in response to the unmet educational needs of their disabled children, and today serves more than 8,000 children and adults annually across 160+ communities in the Chicago area. A longtime IFF customer, Clearbrook has received eight additional loans from IFF since 2014.

Cocina Compartida De Trabajadores

IFF closed a $200,000 loan for Cocina Compartida de Trabajadores Cooperativistas (CCTC), a worker cooperative in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood that operates a shared commercial kitchen used as an incubator space for street food vendors. IFF provided a $150,000 loan to CCTC in March 2021 to acquire its facility, and the most recent loan was made to provide the organization with $50,000 in additional capital necessary to complete renovations to the facility. Additional funding for the project is being provided by the City of Chicago’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, the Street Vendors Association of Chicago, Little Village Community Foundation, a GoFundMe campaign, and members of the cooperative.

Movin’ Out

IFF closed two loans totaling $4.18 million for Movin’ Out, which the nonprofit will use to develop a 70,000-square-foot facility in Madison, WI, that will include a 21,000-square-foot ground floor early childhood education (ECE) center and 38 apartments on the upper three floors – 32 of which will be affordable for families earning 30-60 percent of the Area Median Income and nine of which will be supportive units for tenants with disabilities. IFF has also issued a forward commitment of $3.58 million to Red Caboose Childcare to purchase and finish the ECE center. Co-locating quality affordable housing and an ECE center will address shortages of both community assets in Madison and revitalize a long-vacant lot in a high-traffic, transit-accessible corridor in the city (learn more by reading our story about the project, Madison Nonprofits Team Up on Affordable Housing and Early Childhood Education in a Win-Win for Everybody).

Additional sources of funding for the $14.5 million project include Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA is allocating the LIHTCs and acting as the lead lender for the project, with Cinnaire serving as the equity investor), City of Madison, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago AHP, HOME, United Way, and a Red Caboose capital campaign.

PIRHL Developers

IFF closed a $1.8 million loan for PIRHL Developers to fund the acquisition of land for a senior housing development in Hartland Township, Michigan. The 4% LIHTC project will create 146 one- and two-bedroom apartments, 61 of which will be affordable for seniors earning up to 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The facility will include a variety of amenities, including home-based health care and an on-site clinic, programming coordinated by a full-time staff member, a fitness center and classes, shuttle bus transportation, a theater room, and more. IFF previously closed a $999,999 predevelopment loan for the $41.5 million project. Additional sources of funding and financing for the project include the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (permanent mortgage and HOME Funds), an equity contribution, mortgage resource funds, income from operations, and a deferred developer fee.

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