Business

The Return for These Investors Isn’t Money, It’s More Affordable Housing

Published

2 months ago

May 4, 2026

The Return for These Investors Isn’t Money, It’s More Affordable Housing

A few months ago, Matt Bedsole got a call from two real estate developers asking for his help. Their plan to build a four-story apartment complex in Chattanooga, Tenn., had a financial hole that no backer seemed eager to fill. The developers needed $8 million. Would Mr. Bedsole be interested in stepping in?

Mr. Bedsole is not a normal investor. He is the chief executive of Invest Chattanooga, a fund set up by the city of 200,000 to invest in local apartment projects. Unlike private equity firms — the main backers of new construction — he judges deals not solely on their financial return, but on how much housing they can deliver the city.

The apartment complex cleared that hurdle. It called for 170 new units that would replace a self-storage center ringed by barbed wire, in a gentrifying part of the city. But Mr. Bedsole had terms. In exchange for the $8 million investment, he got a 51 percent stake in the building and an agreement that 30 percent of its units be priced below market rate. The developers said yes. They closed the deal over pastrami sandwiches.

“Money is tight and developers don’t have a ton of options for capital right now,” Mr. Bedsole said in an interview. “We have it, but we want affordable units in the deal.”

Invest Chattanooga is part of a new class of government-backed funds that invest directly in new housing. The aim is to speed up construction and create housing that is permanently affordable and controlled locally. In the process they are rewriting how local housing programs have traditionally operated.

Each effort is a little different, but the guiding principle is to get developers to build more housing, with lower rents, in exchange for public investment. Instead of asking a high rate of return, as a private investor would, these funds require less money back from developers but stipulate that a portion of the units carry below market-rate rents.

They come at a time when a mix of higher interest rates and rising costs for insurance and materials like lumber have caused investors to run from new construction. Economists estimate the nation needs about 2 million new housing units, yet the pace of home building slowed last year.

Some states, like Hawaii, have created funds that lend money to developers on more favorable terms than Wall Street or a bank would, while others, including New York, have created funds to accelerate stalled projects. Atlanta aims to use public land to stimulate new home building: The city’s Urban Development Corporation contributes city-owned land to private development projects and keeps a stake after the building is completed.

Then there are public investment funds like the one in Chattanooga.

There are about two dozen of these funds in the United States, said Shaun Donovan, the chief executive of Enterprise Community Partners, which recently created a team to help them and is trying to set up its own fund to augment their efforts. The funds provide “capital, but capital at this moment of maximum impact, which is getting the building out of the ground,” said Mr. Donovan, who served as the housing secretary in the Obama administration.

Most of these efforts were inspired by Montgomery County, Md., whose Housing Opportunity Commission has for decades been a kind of national laboratory for affordable housing innovation. Mr. Bedsole has been something of a human catalyst in this process: He helped create Atlanta’s system based on the Montgomery County model, then took these ideas to Chattanooga last year.

“The cavalry isn’t coming, so we have to figure this out on our own,” said Tim Kelly, Chattanooga’s mayor.

From Public Housing to Patchwork

Figuring out how to produce low-cost housing for people who cannot afford market rents is a riddle that has vexed cities throughout the modern era. Governments have spent much of the past century veering between public and private sector solutions. Today most new affordable housing is delivered by a hybrid system, in which public subsidies finance private development.

That system is a product of shifting politics more than considered policy design. Starting in the 1970s, the federal government essentially stopped building public housing as part of a broader shift away from welfare benefits. What replaced it was a patchwork of rental vouchers and tax benefits — the biggest of which, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), was created in 1986 — for companies that provide affordable housing. Local governments now depend on that credit to build everything from low-cost apartments for teachers to supportive housing for people leaving homeless shelters.

One of the problems with low-income tax credits is that they are complicated to use and expire over time, often between 15 and 30 years, at which point the building’s owner can start charging market rents. It’s a galling turn for cities, since they often give millions in grants to finance affordable projects. To prevent building owners from evicting low-income tenants after the affordability restrictions lapse, many governments end up buying buildings back.

“So now the state has paid for the building twice — initially with subsidies, and then by giving a wad of cash to the developer,” said Stanley Chang, a state senator in Hawaii. “That is obscene.”

A Small Chip at a Growing Problem

Mr. Kelly, the mayor of Chattanooga, said he created Invest Chattanooga to prevent that obscenity. A businessman who ran car dealerships and co-founded the local soccer club, he was elected in 2021 (and re-elected last year) on an affordable housing platform.

At first, Chattanooga responded to its housing crisis by overhauling its zoning laws to allow more density, and legalizing backyard units on residential lots. This was the formula followed by many state and local governments over the past decade as rent and house prices have ballooned. But, as in many cities, the construction that followed leaned heavily toward higher-end buildings, where rents are too expensive for large swaths of the work force.

According to a city report, over the past five years Chattanooga has lost about half of its apartments that rent for less than $1,000 a month. The new apartments rent for too much, while federal programs do not produce enough units to meet the need.

But there are two ingredients in construction: land and money. So Chattanooga decided to focus on the second of these and became an investor, putting up $20 million to create Invest Chattanooga and hiring Mr. Bedsole from Atlanta to run it.

Invest Chattanooga is run like a business that makes money, then turns profits into cheaper housing. It puts up the initial cash, usually a mix of equity and debt financing, that developers need to get a bank loan. In exchange for the money, projects built with the fund must have at least 30 percent of their units reserved for families making below the median income in the area.

The city gets a return but it’s low — about 8 percent on the recent deal to replace the storage center, versus private equity firms that in many cases ask for double that amount. That difference can mean a developer saves several million dollars on a multiunit building, making it possible to lower the rent. And unlike units built with federal tax credits, Invest Chattanooga owns the building so can capture the upside of higher land values down the line.

Mr. Bedsole said Invest Chattanooga has a relatively modest goal of producing 100 affordable units a year by 2030, and to raise an additional $20 million for more projects. It is one little chip in a problem that gets bigger every day. Unlike the public housing agencies of old, his agency is not replacing developers in the process of building housing. Rather, it is trying to replace the financiers who decide what does and does not get built.

“I’m not competing with developers,” Mr. Bedsole said. “I’m competing with private equity.”

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Business

FDA escalates recall of Utz brand potato chips before July Fourth holiday

Published

10 hours ago

July 6, 2026

Press Room

The recall of a popular chip brand over salmonella concerns was recently upgraded to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s highest level, just ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and countless backyard barbecues.

On June 24, the FDA designated the recall of several varieties of Zapp’s and Dirty brand potato chips as Class I, meaning it’s “a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”

FDA has classified the following items as Class I:

Zapp’s

1.5-ounce Zapp’s Bayou Blackened Ranch Kettle Chips
2.5- and 8-ounce Zapp’s Bayou Blackened Ranch Potato Chips
1.5- and 8-ounce Zapp’s Big Cheezy Potato Chips

Dirty

1.5- and 2-ounce Dirty Brand Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips
2-ounce Dirty Maui Onion Chips
2-ounce Dirty Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips

The chips are produced by Utz Quality Foods, LLC, which on April 28 issued a recall after learning “that a seasoning containing dry milk powder, sourced from California Dairies, Inc. and supplied by a third-party supplier, may contain the presence of Salmonella.”

Salmonella can lead to sometimes deadly infections in elderly people, young children and those with weakened immune systems, according to the FDA.

More than 680,000 bags are included in the recall.

Anyone who has these products should not eat them and should discard them immediately.

What to look for

Salmonella is a foodborne illness that can be fatal to young children, pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Symptoms may develop 12 to 72 hours after infection, according to the FDA.

The FDA said that people with strong immune systems infected with salmonella may experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The illness can last four to seven days.

In rare cases, the infection may produce more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis, the agency added.

What to do if infected

If you contract salmonella, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends drinking plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration.

The CDC advises consulting a doctor before taking antidiarrheal medicine or antibiotics. If severe symptoms continue after two days, seek medical help, the agency says.

Because those with diarrhea can spread salmonella to others, it’s also recommended to avoid sharing food or preparing meals for others, sexual contact and swimming in public pools, and to stay home while sick.

Times staff writer Jasmine Mendez contributed to this report.

Business

‘Minions & Monsters’ tops the box office, but with a lower-than-expected haul

Published

20 hours ago

July 5, 2026

Press Room

‘Minions & Monsters’ tops the box office, but with a lower-than-expected haul

The Minions took over theaters this weekend as Universal Pictures and Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters” won the top spot at the box office, though with a lower-than-expected domestic haul.

The animated movie, which follows the Minions’ takeover of Hollywood, took in $61.4 million in the U.S. and Canada for the five-day Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to studio estimates. That haul was lower than analysts’ expectations for a domestic opening of about $68 million. The movie’s three-day total was $36.4 million.

But the Minions performed well internationally, bringing in about $85 million. In total, “Minions & Monsters” made $159.9 million worldwide on a production budget of about $85 million.

The film is the latest in the powerhouse franchise that began with “Despicable Me” in 2010. Across its previous six installments, the “Despicable Me” and “Minions” franchise has made more than $5.6 billion at the global box office. The last movie, 2022’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” made more than $940 million worldwide.

“Minions & Monsters” marks the lowest opening for the franchise. Part of the issue could be timing — the box office can be negatively affected when the Fourth of July lands on a Saturday, said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak.

Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” came in second at the box office this weekend with a domestic three-day gross of $31 million. Angel Studios’ biopic “Young Washington” ($20.8 million), Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ “Supergirl” ($9.6 million) and Universal’s “Disclosure Day” ($6 million) rounded out the top five, according to Rentrak.

The haul for “Minions & Monsters,” coupled with the strong holdover performance of “Toy Story 5,” proved again that family films are making a dent in the summer box office.

“Toy Story 5” has now brought in a total of $764.3 million worldwide, and last month, Universal, Illumination and Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” crossed $1 billion at the global box office, becoming the first film of any kind to do so this year.

The rest of the summer theatrical lineup is also expected to bring in audiences and push domestic box office totals closer to pre-pandemic figures. Next week, Disney will release its live-action “Moana,” followed by Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

To date, the summer box office is now about $2.3 billion, a nearly 12% increase compared with the same period a year ago, according to Rentrak data. Compared with pre-pandemic 2019’s numbers, however, it is still down about 7%.

Business

China-backed AI tool behind fake Brad Pitt fight making Hollywood inroads

Published

1 day ago

July 5, 2026

Press Room

China-backed AI tool behind fake Brad Pitt fight making Hollywood inroads

Earlier this year, a widely circulated 15-second AI-generated video of Brad Pitt fighting Tom Cruise on a rooftop sparked outrage across Hollywood. One screenwriter called the cinematic clip “terrifying.” The Motion Picture Assn. demanded the company behind the artificial intelligence tool — Chinese tech giant ByteDance — halt its “infringing activity.”

Despite the uproar, the former majority owner of TikTok has quietly continued to court filmmakers, independent artists and executives who are eager to adopt the AI video generation model called Seedance.

Seedance was launched in the U.S. this spring at a Santa Monica event hosted by a group linked to the Chinese government.

ByteDance began hiring for 100 open roles, signed multiple independent filmmakers and artists and held private conversations about financing AI films. The company threw a lavish caviar party at Cannes and in May hosted panels promoting its cinematic tool at Amazon’s AI on the Lot event in Culver City.

“Like any new technology, Hollywood ultimately has no choice but to react to market realities. And that reality is that the new crop of AI-empowered Hollywood creatives see Seedance as having the most powerful video generator in the market right now,” said Peter Csathy of Creative Media, an entertainment and AI business advisory firm.

Joel Kuwahara, the animation producer on early seasons of “The Simpsons,” echoed Hollywood’s quiet embrace.

“Within the industry, I know that a lot of studios haven’t approved Seedance, but yet with a wink and a nod, they’re allowing Seedance to be used. … It’s kind of like a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ kind of a thing,’” Kuwahara told The Times.

ByteDance declined to comment on its U.S. expansion.

The race to build the dominant AI video model has created a fierce rivalry, pitting U.S. companies against the fast-closing Chinese competitors. On the American side, there are Google Veo and startups such as Runway and Luma. OpenAI’s Sora has discontinued its video tool.

The Chinese challengers Seedance, Kling and Alibaba’s HappyHorse have rapidly closed the gap on cinematic realism and have upstaged their American rivals by undercutting them on cost.

According to Artificial Analysis, a company that tracks cost and performances of different AI models, China’s Seedance is currently the most cost-effective and high-quality option compared with U.S. competitors. Seedance costs $9 per minute for video with audio generation, significantly lower than the $24 per minute required by Google’s Veo model.

That makes it an attractive tool for independent filmmakers like Rupert Wainwright, who recently met with Seedance executives at AI on the Lot.

He wants to use the the tool to help make his feature-length film called “Sebastian,” about a Christian saint set in 3rd century Rome. The hybrid AI film will be shot partly on location in Europe and partly generated with artificial intelligence.

“It’s the equivalent to when streaming a movie over the internet onto your TV finally became possible,” Wainwright said.

Kavan Cardoza.

(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)

In May, Steven Schneider, the producer of “Paranormal Activity,” famous for its handheld grainy footage-style filmmaking, announced “Terrarium,” his first hybrid AI horror production. The film’s director, Jason Zada, said it will be entirely generated using Seedance’s model.

Zada’s filmmaking workflow involves writing, casting, prompting and editing all simultaneously, allowing him to rewrite scripts based on “dailies” generated by AI that day.

He estimates that generating 15 seconds of high-definition video costs only $5.

“We could go from a very detailed outline, very detailed characters and have it be a bit more fluid, because we could regen[erate] as much as we want,” Zada said.

Zada plans to shoot the movie first on a soundstage with real actors and will decide later which parts work better traditionally and what should be done synthetically. He’s a member of the Directors Guild of America and said he will be employing union actors for his hybrid AI film.

Seedance also has continued building ties by offering indie creators, AI-native studios and filmmakers free monthly credits and access to unreleased features. These “tastemakers” beta test its models, offer feedback on what works, and use it for their personal filmmaking projects — which creates corporate brand awareness.

Kavan Cardoza is one such breakout filmmaker. His AI fantasy series, “The Chronicle of Bones,” which uses Seedance, features half a dozen distinct storylines and an ensemble of characters. New episodes, each not more than 30 minutes, are released on YouTube once a month. The solo filmmaker averages 3 million views per episode and has cultivated a YouTube audience of 500,000.

Most filmmakers are tool agnostic, but lately Cardoza has become completely dependent on Seedance, he said, because it solves a persistent problem: maintaining character consistency between shots.

To create one of his characters, “the last lost boy,” Cardoza took self-portraits wearing a three-faced mask and a tattered brown jacket. He used those reference images for the AI character and transforms them into a stylized person, with a personality, backstory and visual details. He fed those images back to Seedance to get consistent characters — repeating the process for each member of the cast.

“I can’t go get Brad Pitt because he costs like $5, 10, 20 million to be in my film,” Cardoza said. “I can probably get a synthetic actor that will act just as good as Brad Pitt in the future. That’s crazy to me.”

Cardoza has copyrighted his script and characters, and aims to eventually attract major studio interest to turn his intellectual property into a film which comes with a built-in fan base.

Such plans are likely to face resistance from the performers union SAG-AFTRA, which has decried the use of synthetic actors such as Tilly Norwood.

“The rise of Seedance comes down to [its] focus on pleasing filmmakers and making things that look filmic,” said Stephan Vladimir Bugaj, senior vice president of JioStar, a joint venture between Disney and India’s Reliance Industries.

ByteDance introduced timeline-based prompting so filmmakers can actually pick specific moments and tweak them, and improved the understanding of camera direction, physics, lighting and fluidity of action. All of this, Bugaj said, “unlocked a kind of spectacle filmmaking that the other models are not delivering quite as well.”

The company’s tool has been in such high demand, Zada said, that Seedance has been quoting some major Hollywood studios $2 million for unrestricted special access.

While acknowledging Seedance’s popularity and its U.S. expansion, Amit Jain, chief executive of Luma, said its ceiling in Hollywood is severely limited. Traditional studios might adopt Chinese models for some preproduction tasks such as concepting, but the geopolitical and intellectual property risks for commercial generations are too prohibitive.

“Can you imagine Disney using the ByteDance model for the next ‘Snow White’? No way,” Jain said. “This is not even a technical argument, really. That’s the reality.”

Luma has been making inroads into Hollywood selling its software but has separately funded a production service company to teach filmmakers to make hybrid AI films using its tools.

Despite conservative production budgets, AI spending by media companies is projected to grow from $2.6 billion to $12.5 billion from 2024 to 2029, according to a State of Generative AI Media report.