Financing Provided Through CPC’s New ACCESS Initiative – Created to Empower BIPOC Real Estate Entrepreneurs and Invest in Communities of Color
The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a leading nonprofit multifamily housing finance company, and Garfield and Shereen Salmon announced financing for 368 Main Street in Poughkeepsie, NY. CPC is providing a $465,000 construction and permanent loan to help the Salmon’s renovate the long-vacant property into a mixed-use building that will create five (5) new rental apartments and new ground-floor commercial space where the couple plan to operate a café and catering business.
The construction financing for the project is being provided through CPC’s Acquiring Capital and Capacity for Economic Stability and Sustainability (ACCESS) initiative, which offers funding and technical support to black, indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) developers and real estate entrepreneurs, and targets high quality housing projects in communities of color. CPC is also providing SONYMA-insured permanent financing through its longstanding partnership with the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
“Our partnership with the CPC was a miraculous journey of faith. We are thanking God that Anne Saylor, at Dutchess County Community Development, referred us to Mary Paden at CPC who later introduced us to their ACCESS team. Lawrence Hammond sat and listened to our heart, our vision, heard our struggles with financing and our inability to move forward, and said yes to our project. CPC’s ACCESS program has truly given us access to fulfill a dream that could have been so easily abandoned because of the financing struggles that Black-owned entrepreneurs face,” said Garfield and Shereen Salmon. “It took seven denials from financial institutions before being approved by CPC. Nevertheless, we are especially grateful that our children have seen that resilience, determination, and prayers can unlock doors that lead to success and a better path. Thank you, CPC, for setting us on the path to realizing our dream – we look forward to partnering further with CPC, the City of Poughkeepsie, and the grand opening of our local café.”
“Entrepreneurs like the Salmon’s are the backbone of our communities. However, as BIPOC developers their lack of access to a network that can provide stable, flexible capital and technical assistance prevents them from taking on new projects and growing their business,” said Lawrence Hammond, Senior Vice President and Director of ACCESS at CPC. “I’m proud that ACCESS was able to assist the Salmon’s in advancing their vision to revitalize 368 Main Street.”
“Rehabilitating and breathing new life into vacant properties is critical to the vitality of our historic downtown areas throughout the Hudson Valley,” said Mary Paden, Senior Vice President and Mortgage Officer at CPC’s Hudson Valley regional office. “As a nonprofit lender, at CPC we understand that the success of first-time developers like the Salmon’s, who live in the Hudson Valley is important to the success of the community. My thanks to Garfield and Shereen Salmon, to the County, and to State Comptroller DiNapoli and our funding partners at the Common Retirement Fund.”
“Transforming vacant properties to meet community needs is critical to increasing affordable housing and spurring economic development in New York,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. “I am pleased that our state pension fund is once again able to work with our partners at the Community Preservation Corporation. CPC’s new ACCESS Initiative will be key to expanding access to capital for Black, Indigenous and other people of color developers and real estate entrepreneurs. My congratulations also to Garfield and Shereen Salmon, whose dedication to this project and entrepreneurship are a benefit to the Poughkeepsie community.”
Originally from Jamaica, Garfield and Shereen Salmon are first-time developers looking to make an impact through the redevelopment and revitalization of small properties in a traditionally underserved portion of downtown Poughkeepsie that has a growing Jamaican community.
Historically, the ability of BIPOC entrepreneurs to access pre-development funding, such as capital for property acquisition, has been a barrier that has impeded their ability to grow and build their capacity as a business. After having been unable to obtain financing from other lending institutions, the Salmon’s sold another property to help raise the equity to acquire and renovate 368 Main Street. However, additional capital was required. The Dutchess County Community Development Office referred them to CPC’s regional office in Chappaqua, who worked with the couple to determine how much additional financing would be needed, and were able to provide it through ACCESS.
In addition to providing the traditional loan support, CPC’s ACCESS initiative offers guidance and technical assistance by providing their borrowers with a professional development consultant, if needed, to help ensure their success as they navigate their projects.
Still in its first year, CPC’s ACCESS initiative has delivered approximately $4 million to BIPOC developers for multifamily projects across New York State, with a robust pipeline of projects currently under consideration. CPC was also recently chosen to by the State as its partner in the new Legacy Cities Access program that will transfer portfolios of blighted, land bank-owned single-family properties to local developers with a preference for M/WBEs. Following rehabilitation, sales will prioritize purchasers of color and low-income households.
CPC launched its $20 million ACCESS initiative in the summer of 2020 to provide financial resources, capacity building opportunities, and technical assistance to entrepreneurs of color who have historically faced barriers to entry in the real estate development market, with the goal of promoting and enabling greater racial diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry.
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About The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC)
Established in 1974, CPC is a nonprofit affordable housing and community revitalization finance company that believes housing is central to transforming underserved neighborhoods into thriving and vibrant communities. The company, which currently carries a AA- issuer rating from S&P Global, provides a full suite of capital products through its construction lending, Agency lending, and equity investing platforms. Since inception, CPC has provided over $12 billion to finance more than 220,000 units of housing, and is currently one of the largest Community Development Financial Institutions in the country solely dedicated to investing in multifamily housing. Visit CPC at communityp.com, and on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.