Cinnaire has been awarded a $7 million Capital Magnet Fund grant from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s CDFI Fund. The grant was announced as part of $130.9 million awarded to 38 nonprofit housing organizations and CDFIs for the development of affordable housing and community facilities in low-income communities. Cinnaire received the second largest award in the country. The capital will be used to provide predevelopment, acquisition and bridge financing for high impact affordable housing developments.
“At a time when one in four households in many of our markets struggle to pay rent, preserving affordable housing assets is more important than ever,” said Katey Forth, Cinnaire Lending President. “Many projects face challenges obtaining traditional financing and require innovative funding solutions. The Capital Magnet Fund awards provide financing CDFIs can use to support high-impact projects in distressed communities.”
Since 2011, Cinnaire has received a total of $20.65 million in Capital Magnet Fund awards. Cinnaire has used this valuable financing tool to support affordable housing communities like Garden Terrace Apartments in La Crosse, WI, a supportive housing program providing services for formerly homeless veterans. Cinnaire used the CMF funds to provide capital to accommodate the developer’s needs, bringing much-needed affordable housing to a very-low income community. Garden Terrace serves 113 residents annually and includes the Kane Community Hub, where residents can take part in educational and nutritional classes, community meals and receive comprehensive case management services.
Cinnaire expects the $7 million award to create 928 and preserve an additional 928 affordable housing units across its nine-state footprint – Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The award will ultimately be leveraged to support at least $50 million in total development costs, creating and preserving homes for low and very-low income families.
“Cinnaire is a leader in the affordable housing industry, bringing access to financial resources to projects and affordable housing to families that need it most,” said Forth. “This award will impact hundreds of families in low and very-low income communities.”
Capital Magnet Fund grant awardees are required to leverage their awards with other public and private investment by at least 10 to 1, guaranteeing that a minimum of $1.3 billion will be invested in communities across the United States. For the FY 2019 round, awardees anticipate that almost $4 billion will be invested in total, including more than $3 billion in private investment.
The 38 awardees will collectively serve 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Of the 38 awardees, 23 are CDFIs and 15 are non-profit housing organizations. The 38 awardees were selected after a merit-based competitive review of applications submitted from a total of 113 organizations that requested more than $544 million from the Capital Magnet Fund.
About the CDFI Fund Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $3.5 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through: the BEA Program; the Capital Magnet Fund; the Community Development Financial Institutions Program, including the Healthy Food Financing Initiative; the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program; and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $57.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and closed guaranteed bonds in the amount of $1.61 billion through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.
To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov.
