The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund announced today an agreement to issue three guarantees worth $498 million under the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, the largest issuance in the program’s history. The program provides long-term, fixed-rate capital for projects in low-income urban, rural and Native communities, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, which administers the CDFI Fund.
This year’s program includes the Opportunity Finance Network, which will issue $173 million in bonds on behalf of seven CDFIs that will use funding for rental or owner-occupied housing, commercial real estate, daycare centers, small businesses and nonprofit organizations. The CDFIs are:
- Renaissance Community Loan Fund in Biloxi, Mississippi, will receive a $20 million bond loan to fund owner-occupied homes in Mississippi and Alabama.
- Greater Minnesota Housing Fund in Saint Paul will receive a $25 million bond loan to fund rental housing in Minnesota.
- Community Loan Fund New Jersey in New Brunswick will receive a $33 million bond loan to fund rental housing and commercial real estate, as well as fund small businesses, daycare centers, nonprofit organizations and charter schools.
- Florida Community Loan Fund in Orlando will receive a $30 million bond loan to fund rental housing and commercial real estate, health care facilities like urgent care centers and physicians’ offices, nonprofit organizations and rental housing within Florida.
- Homewise in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will receive a $15 million bond loan to build commercial real estate and owner-occupied homes within the state of New Mexico, primarily Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
- Community First Fund in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, will receive a $20 million bond loan to build rental housing and commercial real estate, as well as fund small businesses, daycare centers, nonprofit organizations and charter schools in Pennsylvania.
- Nonprofit Finance Fund in New York City will receive a $30 million bond loan to build rental housing and commercial real estate, as well as fund small businesses, daycare centers, nonprofit organizations and charter schools.
The program also includes the Community Reinvestment Fund, or CRF, which will issue a $150 million bond on behalf of the Community Development Trust, which plans to use the bond proceeds to fund charter schools and rental housing throughout the nation. CRF will also issue $175 million in bonds on behalf of two CDFIs. They are:
- The Reinvestment Fund in Philadelphia will receive a $100 million bond loan to fund rental housing, commercial real estate, daycare centers, healthcare facilities, nonprofit organizations, small businesses and charter schools in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Baltimore.
- IFF in Chicago will receive a $75 million bond loan to fund rental housing, commercial real estate, daycare centers, health care facilities, nonprofit organizations, small businesses and charter schools in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.