COLUMBIA, MD - Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. (Enterprise), a national leader in community development and affordable housing, was awarded $50 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). Enterprise is one of 85 Community Development Entities receiving an allocation of the $3.5 billion in NMTC awarded as part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Authorization and Job Creation Act of 2012. This new allocation brings Enterprise's total NMTC awards to $722 million, $672 million of which has previously been invested in low-income communities nationwide, making it one of the largest allocatees of NMTCs in the country.
Enterprise will use its NMTC allocation to complement and expand upon Enterprise's housing work in low-income communities by financing high-impact projects that improve quality of life by creating quality jobs and delivering essential services and retail goods, including healthcare, education and healthy food options. NMTC enables Enterprise to provide flexible, below market financing for these critical projects.
"We are pleased with the CDFI Fund's decision to award Enterprise with a NMTC allocation in this very competitive funding round," said Joseph Wesolowski, senior vice president, Structured Finance, Enterprise. "We continue to support NMTC as an essential component to developing strong communities and stimulating economic development in the country's most distressed neighborhoods, and encourage Congress to make the NMTC a permanent part of the tax code" Without action by Congress, there will be no new NMTC allocation awarded by the CDFI Fund after 2014.
To date, Enterprise has invested in 55 commercial, mixed-use and community facility projects in 20 states and the District of Columbia with development costs totaling more than $3.7 billion. These developments will result in more than 8.6 million square feet of new or rehabilitated real estate, 3,700 housing units and more than 13,000 permanent jobs created or retained in local communities. Currently, more than 90 percent of Enterprise's investments exceed NMTC regulations by being located in census tracts that the CDFI Fund defines as areas of higher distress.
Consistent with Enterprise's commitment to green communities, each of the financed projects will incorporate environmentally sensitive practices to ensure long-term, cost-effectiveness and to maximize the health benefits for their users. Many of these developments also meet the environmentally sustainable standards of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System.
Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For more than 30 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision.