Comunidad Partners Expands to DC with Innovative Affordable Housing Credit Solution

Comunidad Companions, a nationwide reasonably priced and workforce housing agency based mostly in Austin, has launched Comunidad Credit score Capital (C3), a brand new influence credit score platform.

Comunidad Companions is 100 % minority- and women-owned and closely focuses its funding actions on positively impacting communities by way of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and its company tradition of range, fairness and inclusion (DEI), in response to the corporate.

The brand new platform will broaden the corporate’s presence to Washington, D.C. The situation of the D.C. workplace has not but been decided. Comunidad Companions additionally has places of work in Atlanta and San Diego.

The enterprise will originate structured finance investments in reasonably priced and workforce housing alternatives, which embrace influence loans, entry to capital or debt for rising various debtors, B-piece investments, credit score enhancement ensures, mortgage banking companies and different standard multifamily mortgage merchandise. 

C3 can be led by former Freddie Mac multifamily veteran Debby Jenkins, who will function CEO and companion of the platform. The market largely lacks impact-focused lenders which are various, and C3 will fill this void by launching this minority- and women-owned and -managed credit score platform, Jenkins famous.

“The present capital markets setting is inflicting pricing dislocation and market disruptions that create compelling credit score funding alternatives to protect and improve workforce reasonably priced housing,” she advised Business Observer. “These communities are weak to shedding their affordability and are prone to bodily degradation. This dynamic is basically as a result of structural imbalances within the capital markets immediately, given many debtors are undercapitalized and/or have misaligned leverage with their present debt buildings.”

She additionally famous federal regulators and government-sponsored enterprises are putting a major emphasis on affordability, ESG and DEI initiatives, together with a deal with various lenders by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae by way of their Equitable Housing Plans. In truth, FHFA has issued a brand new requirement that fifty % of Fannie and Freddie annual allocations should be mission-based serving households beneath 80 % of the realm median earnings and created a brand new workforce housing class that incentivizes debtors to keep up rents at attainable ranges for prolonged durations of time.

“Our intent is to institute Influence programming on the properties we finance, and we plan to typically align with FHFA’s definition of workforce housing within the 2023 scorecard and equitable housing plans,” Jenkins mentioned. “Official launch can be within the spring, and we’re within the strategy of defining our product set and phrases.”

Keith Loria might be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.