Article Archives: Florida

Florida Preservation Fund
The Florida Community Loan Fund is seeking banks to invest in the new Florida Preservation Fund to preserve affordable rental housing throughout Florida.

The Florida Preservation Fund is launching a pilot program in Orange, Palm Beach, and Pasco counties. Banks operating in any of these counties are invited to invest in the preservation fund. Additionally, the Florida Community Loan Fund can tailor investments to fit the CRA needs of individual banks.

The program will combine $4.8 million in support from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation with $20 million in debt from private investors to deploy up to $24.8 million in financing across the three counties.

The preservation fund will provide developers with access to lower-rate, short-term bridge loans for acquisition, stabilization rehabilitation, or limited predevelopment costs. The maximum loan size is $5 million with a fixed rate for a three-year term. All the work of the preservation fund must preserve long-term affordability.

To date, the preservation fund has secured $14.3 million in investments and commitments. The Florida Community Loan Fund is working closely with Florida banking institutions as well as other types of investors, including trade associations, religious institutions, and foundations to assemble the remaining balance needed to capitalize the preservation fund.

The Florida Community Loan Fund is a statewide community development financial institution, using financial capital and human creativity to transform lives and communities.

For more information, call Ignacio Esteban, Executive Director, or Rich Rollason, Development Officer, at (407) 246-0846.
[Community Developments Investments, Fall 2010]

Loan Fund Reinvests in Florida's Communities
The Florida Community Loan Fund, a statewide community development financial institution, is using financial capital and human creativity to transform lives and communities. Established in 1994, the loan fund allows financial institutions to satisfy community reinvestment performance criteria and receive Bank Enterprise Awards from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Finance Fund, based on investments or grant support made to the loan fund. As the only Florida based institution to receive a New Markets Tax Credit allocation, the loan fund works with financial institutions to use these tax credits to support community and economic development projects. Financial institutions; foundations; and other institutional, religious, and individual investors support the work of the loan fund with equity, debt capital, equity equivalent, program-related investments, and operating grants. The loan fund also uses loan participation agreements and lines-of-credit with participating financial institutional investors. Loans range from $5,000 to $1.5 million, with variable terms and interest rates. The loan fund also offers incentives to encourage the creation of sustainable "green" community development projects. For more information, visit www.fclf.org, or call Ignacio Esteban, Executive Director, at (407) 246-0846.
[Community Developments Newsletter, Fall 2009]

Supporting Affordable Housing through Tax Credit Syndication
Community Affordable Housing Equity Corp (CAHEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit low-income housing tax credit syndicator serving Alabama, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. CAHEC works to create and maintain affordable rental and ownership housing in the areas it serves. Since its creation in 1992, CAHEC has developed more than 7,300 units of affordable housing. CAHEC also provides a number of supportive programs designed to assist the residents of the developments it has helped to finance.

As a tax credit syndicator, CAHEC structures equity funds using investors' capital. CAHEC's most recent fund is the South Carolina Preservation Fund II LP (SCPF II). SCPF II is a $32 million equity fund designed to preserve and renovate a portfolio of older, multifamily housing properties in South Carolina. The targeted portfolio includes 41 properties with a total of 1,548 units. Although all investments in SCPF II were fully subscribed in 2008, banks can invest in other CAHEC equity funds as they are developed. To learn more, visit their Web site or e-mail Dana Boole or call (919) 788-1803.
[Community Developments Investments, Spring 2009]

Small Loans, Big Returns
Ways to Work (WtW) is a nonprofit, community development financial institution that helps lower-income people. WtW is designed to help borrowers attain financial independence and advance economically by having money to purchase dependable used cars to get to work or school. Since 1996, WtW has originated nearly 12,000 loans for more than $31 million and the average auto loan amounts to an average $3,400. Results of a 2006 WtW evaluation indicate that borrowers reported an average increase of 41 percent in their take-home pay. In addition, 67 percent of WtW borrowers report that they have used conventional financial services subsequent to receiving their WtW loans.

Headquartered in Milwaukee, WtW makes its loans from 43 offices in 21 states: California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

WtW offices are located in social service agencies affiliated with the Alliance of Children and Families (ACF). ACF agencies screen and provide financial education to borrowers and service the loans. WtW local offices provide financial education to more than three persons for every individual who receives a loan. Investors in WtW include several national foundations, the Community Development Financial Institution Fund of the U.S. Treasury Department, local United Way offices, and financial institutions. Banks can be involved by investing in the national WtW loan fund, by referring to local WtW offices prospective borrowers who do not meet conventional credit criteria, by participating in local WtW loan committees, and by providing grants and in-kind donations to WtW.

For more information, contact President Jeff Faulkner at (414) 359-1448 ext. 2, e-mail him, or visit his Web site.
[Community Developments Investments, Fall 2008]

Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corporation
The Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corporation, Inc. (TBBBIC), a nonprofit community development financial institution, is a public-private partnership between local government and the corporate community. The TBBBIC provides technical assistance and financing for African-American owned start-ups and growing businesses in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties in Florida through the creation of a capital investment fund supported by local financial institutions. TBBBIC assists all small businesses in these counties by working through the Small Business Administration as well as other local programs.

The TBBBIC provides technical assistance to small businesses including advice on the business and marketing plan, preparation of loan packages, business and personal financial statement analysis and small business courses and seminars. TBBBIC offers direct loans for equipment, working capital, accounts receivable, contract financing, and loan guarantees up to the lesser of 50 percent of the loan or $75,000. Currently, TBBBIC has 18 contributing members. Since inception, the TBBBIC has made nearly $7 million in loans; which has produced 460 jobs.

For more information, contact Frances Wimberly at (813) 274-7925, or view the Web site at www.tampabaybbic.com.
[Published in News from the Districts, Community Developments Investments, Spring 2006]

Neighborhood Lending Partners of South Florida
A new lending consortium, Neighborhood Lending Partners of South Florida, Inc. (NLPSF), has been created to provide affordable housing in South Florida in affiliation with Neighborhood Lending Partners, Inc. (NLP), an established CDFI with a nine-year track record. Twenty-three area banks including the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta have created a $20 million loan pool to finance the development and rehabilitation of multi-family affordable housing projects in low-income and minority communities in Miami-Dade County. NLPSF has funded approximately $110 million in loans, resulting in more than 5,000 affordable housing units.

For more information, contact Debra Reyes at (813) 879-4525, or Erbi Blanco-True at (305) 666-6153.
[Published in News from the Districts, Community Developments, Fall 2002]