Capital Impact Partners Marks Third Quarter with First Loan Closing Under CDFI Bond Guarantee Program

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital Impact Partners announced today that it provided $21.6 million in financing to projects delivering social impact for underserved communities across the U.S. during the third quarter of 2015. These projects include a milestone deal with Capital Impact closing its first loan under the U.S. Department of the Treasury's nonprofit Community Development Financial Institutions CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.

"We are excited to support the great work of Detroit Edison Public School Academy through the first loan we've made under the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program," said Terry Simonette, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. "This deal demonstrates the true value of this program, which is to deliver long-term, fixed-rate capital that supports financial stability and helps to control facility costs for projects in low-income and underserved communities."

Capital Impact's support of projects across Michigan, central and northern California, and Washington state will increase access to health care services, high-quality education models, dignified aging options, and access to healthy food for underserved at-risk populations. These projects are expected to create 133 permanent and 270 construction jobs, further helping those who live in the communities Capital Impact serves.

Capital Impact also announced that Ellis Carr, CIP chief financial officer, has been nominated to serve on the Opportunity Finance Network's board of directors. If selected, Ellis will bring his many years of public and private experience to represent the national agenda of the CDFI industry. Ellis Carr's statement and a video regarding his candidacy can be found here along with a Q&A interview here.

Further, Capital Impact released two important reports laying out strategies to better serve at-risk Americans. The Healthy Food Financing Policy Brief examines the federal government's Healthy Food Financing Initiative to determine what's working and how Capital Impact is replicating that success to expand access to healthy foods in underserved communities. The Toward Inclusive Growth in Detroit report addresses scenarios for cultivating mixed-income neighborhoods that grow the economy while protecting current and future residents.

In the third quarter of 2015, Capital Impact Partners worked with community partners and borrowers to close transactions in the following areas.

Increasing Access to High-Quality Education
Capital Impact's milestone deal was the financing of the Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA). The $6.1 million transaction represents Capital Impact's first loan made through the U.S. Treasury department's CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. 

Located in Detroit's Eastern Market neighborhood, halfway between Midtown and Downtown, DEPSA is a charter school with a 20-year history of providing high-quality education to more than 1,400 students in grades PreK-12. More than 65 percent of the school's students qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch program. DEPSA has been the recipient of numerous awards and wide recognition for its strong academic program, including the prestigious National Blue Ribbon Schools Award from the U.S. Department of Education.

The school will now be able to purchase the 120,000-sq.-ft. facility it has been thus far renting, freeing up hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual cash flow to support its educational program. Capital Impact's financing has also provided additional funds enabling the purchase and rehabilitation of a nearby property that will now be the site of athletic fields, offices, and locker rooms for DEPSA's growing athletic programs.

The loan was closed in collaboration with Chicago-based IFF and support from the Detroit-based Skillman Foundation.

Increasing Access to High-Quality Healthcare
Capital Impact closed four loans to California community health centers and clinics that are increasing their capacity to meet the high demand for comprehensive, affordable, and quality healthcare services in the communities they serve.

Altura Centers for Health (previously known as Tulare Community Health Clinic) is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Tulare, California, that serves 26,000 patients in this rural area, 77 percent of whom live below Federal Poverty Line. Altura is expanding its West Tulare clinic to serve an additional 3,000 patients. The new 7,400-sq.-ft. clinic will be their sixth site, with nine exam rooms and six dental rooms. The project will create 27 permanent and 100 construction jobs, with Capital Impact providing a $2 million construction loan.

Sacramento Native American Health Center, Inc. (SNAHC) is a FQHC located in Midtown Sacramento, Calif., that plays a major role in the area's "medical safety net." With the recent changes to Medi-Cal benefits and the managed care environment, a significant portion of the population has been left with little or no access to mainstream health care. The health center provides a culturally competent, holistic, and patient-centered continuum of care to the low-income and underinsured population in the state capital and the county of Sacramento. The center was founded to help the American Indian/Alaskan Native community and currently serves 5,500 patients per year. 

Capital Impact's loan will finance the expansion of the facility to triple its current size, adding 11 medical exam rooms and seven dental operators. The expanded center will also offer optometry services, making SNAHC the only health facility in Sacramento to offer such services. With this expansion, SNAHC will be able to serve an additional 8,600 patients per year with a full range of primary care, dental, optometry, and behavioral health services. Capital Impact provided a $750,000 loan through the CPCA Ventures Loan Program.

Elica Health Centers is another FQHC located in Sacramento. Through its two sites and mobile clinic, Elica provides care to more than 11,000 low-income and underinsured patients in the city and Sacramento and Yolo counties, where it has historically served the Slavic community, the largest in the country.

Capital Impact's $750,000 loan, financed through its CPCA Ventures Program, will finance working capital to bridge receivables from Medi-Cal. The loan funds will allow the health center to hire 40 new providers, including 12 mental and behavioral health specialists, and to expand its services in west Sacramento.

Halfway between Sacramento and Oakland, Ole Health (previously known as Clinic Ole Community Health) is expanding to serve the farmworker population in the city of Fairfield and Solano County. Ole is a large health center that has grown from a single site in Napa to additional locations throughout the Napa Valley, including St. Helena and Calistoga. Ole brings innovative, high-quality healthcare to more than 24,000 patients, and its move to Fairfield helps fill a major primary care gap that exists in the Sacramento Delta area. The project will encompass the renovation of a 5,500-sq.-ft. clinic in Fairfield that will include seven exam rooms, four dental operators, a lab, and two consultation rooms for integrated care and education. The construction will create 15 local jobs. Capital Impact provided a $1 million loan through the CPCA Ventures Program.

"Our loans to SNAHC, Elica, and Ole show the versatility of the CPCA Loan Program and the creativity California health centers employ to expand primary care access as they add square footage to their sites, add new sites nearby, or add capacity in underserved areas," said Scott Sporte, chief lending officer at Capital Impact Partners. "Our deep knowledge of the sector has allowed us to finance more than 50 percent of Federally Qualified Health Centers in California"

Increasing Access to Healthy Food
The Uptown Center is a 24,000-sq.-ft. mixed-use project that will develop affordable housing, as well as retail and office space in a major push to create an affordable, walkable community on the site of a former Ford dealership in Paso Robles, on California's Central Coast. Anchoring the retail development is a grocery store that will bring fresh, healthy food to a part of town with limited nearby access, increasing the impact of California FreshWorks. Capital Impact partnered with a local CDFI, Northern California Community Loan Fund, and a bank to provide a $6 million New Market Tax Credit financing package.

Continuing Detroit's Revitalization
Capital Impact continues its committed support of Detroit's revitalization with its financing of the purchase and renovation of historic H.R. Finn Apartments in the city's Midtown district. The 22,000-sq.-ft. building, which was built in 1922, will undergo a complete transformation to support 28 new units of rental housing and two small retail sites.

The H.R. Finn Apartments also represents yet another project that is expanding westward from the core Woodward Avenue development, widening the scope of renovation and rejuvenation in Midtown. This project is being undertaken by Brandon Duckett, a developer from New York who fell in love with Detroit while attending a wedding. Capital Impact provided a $1.5 million construction loan that will be sold to Woodward Corridor Investment Fund at stabilization, as well as a $1 million Historic Tax Credit bridge loan

"We decided to fund the project because it allows Capital Impact to assist a minority developer who is restoring a vacant but historically significant building," said Melinda Clemons, senior loan officer for Capital Impact. "This renovation, along with our recent Rainer Court ribbon cutting, provides further support for the recent reinvestment in the area and enhances its livability for all Detroiters."

About Capital Impact Partners: Capital Impact Partners transforms underserved communities into strong, vibrant places of opportunity for people at every stage of life. We deliver strategic financing, incubate new social programs, and provide capacity-building to help ensure that low-to-moderate-income individuals have access to quality health care and education, healthy foods, affordable housing, and the ability to age with dignity. A nonprofit community development financial institution, Capital Impact Partners has disbursed more than $2 billion to revitalize communities over the last 30 years. Headquartered in Arlington, Va., Capital Impact Partners operates nationally, with local offices in Detroit, Mich., and Oakland, Calif. Learn more at www.capitalimpact.org.

SOURCE Capital Impact Partners

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