CPC’s lending and investing builds on successful year that included a $6.97 billion EPA award, acquisition of Signature Bank’s $5.8 billion rent-stabilized portfolio
August 27, 2024 – More than 13,000 people will have stable places to live as a result of $640 million in capital the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) deployed in the 2024 fiscal year that ran from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. CPC, the nation’s largest community development financial institution (CDFI) focused on multifamily housing, financed 80 transactions representing 5,300 homes across seven states, 100% of which aligned with the company’s commitment to financing affordable, sustainable, and equitable housing.
CPC’s $640 million in lending and investing represents the work of the company’s broad range of business lines, with 97% of all transactions across construction lending, permanent lending, and equity investing helping to create or preserve affordable housing. This included $191 million invested in sustainable and high-performance housing projects, including the first projects to close under the Climate Friendly Homes Fund (CFHF) program which provides up to $25,000 per unit in grant funding to electrify small multifamily buildings. So far, the CFHF has provided $3.75 million in grant funding to support the electrification of 15 small buildings with a total of 150 units.
Additionally, CPC closed $155 million in projects with black and indigenous people of color (BIPOC) developers through CPC’s ACCESS Initiative that focuses on closing the racial wealth gap and increasing diversity and equity within the real estate industry. FY24 also saw more than 70 BIPOC novice developers and real estate entrepreneurs graduate from the ACCESS Incubator real estate development training program. Since the program’s inception, CPC has completed 5 training cohorts with more than 170 program graduates, several of which are working on developing their first housing projects.
“In 1974, CPC made its first loan to help rehabilitate a small building in Washington Heights, and in the five decades since then we’ve invested more than $15 billion to help create and preserve housing and to lift up communities in need,” said Rafeal E. Cestero, CEO, The Community Preservation Corporation. “I’m extremely proud of the work we did this fiscal year, including on two new partnerships, with the FDIC and EPA, that will allow us to help preserve critical affordable housing in New York, and transform the mortgage market to help decarbonize our housing stock in historically underserved communities nationwide. CPC’s ability to create a positive impact in communities is rooted in its spirit of innovation and collaboration, and it is well positioned to continue to grow and serve the needs of communities for the next 50 years and beyond.”
A testament to its five decades of positive impact through innovative lending and investing, the mission-driven nonprofit also secured several highly competitive awards and grants as it celebrated its 50th anniversary. These included:
- A $6.79 billion award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- The acquisition of Signature Bank’s $5.8 billion loan portfolio of rent-stabilized properties
In April 2024, Climate United, a coalition comprised of CPC with Calvert Impact and Self-Help, was selected through a competitive process to receive a $6.97 billion award from the EPA’s National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF). The national coalition is focused on delivering the benefits of green technologies to communities across the country and was one of several entities competing to manage a portion of the NCIF, one of three programs under the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
CPC leads the coalition’s multifamily market strategy and will deploy approximately $2.4 billion of the EPA award through targeted investments to decarbonize multifamily housing nationwide through its subsidiary CPC Climate Capital. In addition to reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions, CPC Climate Capital will finance projects that bring tangible benefits to residents, such as improved indoor air quality and lower utility expenses, with at least 40% of transactions supporting residents of low-income and disadvantaged communities. CPC Climate Capital achieves this goal by providing low-cost subordinate debt financing to increase proceeds for deep green decarbonization improvements for multifamily housing, while decreasing the overall cost of mortgage capital in existing and to-be-built multifamily projects.
“CPC’s commitment to not only address the housing crisis but to do so with clean energy and resiliency at the forefront has led to substantial advancements in decarbonizing buildings and improving energy efficiency throughout our projects,” said Sadie McKeown, President, The Community Preservation Corporation.“Bolstered by public investments like the National Clean Investment Fund and New York State’s Climate Friendly Homes Fund, CPC is poised to help accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy and foster inclusive, resilient and environmentally responsible neighborhoods across the country.”
In December 2023, Community Stabilization Partners (CSP), a partnership led by CPC, along with Neighborhood Restore HDFC and Related Fund Management, closed on two joint venture transactions with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to acquire a five percent equity interest in a portion of the former Signature Bank rent-stabilized portfolio. CPC was selected by the FDIC in a competitive process and will service the $5.8 billion in loans in the portfolio which is comprised of 868 permanent loans, secured by properties containing nearly 35,000 units – 80 percent of which are characterized as rent regulated.
The mission-driven team will work to ensure the preservation of long-term affordability for properties in the CSP portfolio. As a nonprofit housing finance company, CPC understands the unique role that rent regulated housing plays in neighborhoods, the distinct financial challenges facing its owners and operators in today’s market, and its importance as a haven of affordability to its tenants.
CPC’s $33 million invested through its Equity Investing business included acquisitions that will help preserve affordability for residents and build the capacity of emerging real estate owners and investors in cities including Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. This included a $4.8 million equity investment for the acquisition of Cambridge Park Townhomes, a 64-unit affordable townhome community in the west side of Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as two equity investments totaling $3.65 million for the acquisition of two affordable housing properties, the 118-unit Capitol Square in Brentwood, Maryland, and the 65-unit Tunlaw Courts in Washington, D.C.
CPC Mortgage Company, the company’s Agency lending subsidiary and the only nonprofit owned mortgage company offering a full suite of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Federal Housing Administration loan products, continued to expand its footprint with $364 million in Agency lending nationwide. This included a forward committed $23.3 million Freddie Mac Targeted Affordable Housing permanent loan to refinance a 390-unit affordable property in Seattle, Washington, and a $33.8 million Freddie Mac Targeted Affordable Housing permanent loan to refinance a 351-unit affordable property in Detroit, Michigan.
“I’m proud of the CPC Mortgage Company team and what we’ve been able to accomplish. Our growth and geographic expansion allows us to move the mortgage industry towards a place where we can not only deliver flexible Agency capital to our customers, but also work closely with our customers to meet the most pressing housing needs to of the communities we serve together,” said Nicole Ferreira, President, CPC Mortgage Company. “Whether it’s affordable or conventional we look at every deal through a lens of positive community impact, and every customer and transaction has the ability to help us continue our work of investing in communities.”
About The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC)
CPC is a diversified, nonprofit, multifamily finance company that was founded in 1974 to provide financial and technical resources to stabilize and revitalize underserved communities. Today, CPC uses its unique expertise in housing finance and public policy to expand access to affordable and workforce housing, advance diversity and equity within the development industry, and expand investment in the green economy and lessen the impact of climate change. Since its founding, CPC has invested over $15 billion to finance the creation and preservation of more than 230,000 units of housing. The company provides a suite of construction and permanent products including Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and FHA mortgages, and is an equity investor with approximately 4,500 affordable units under ownership. CPC is a carbon-neutral company and has been rated AA- by S&P. Visit CPC at communityp.com, and on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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