Need Financing for Your CLT? Turn to ICE
For more than 30 years, the Institute for Community Economics (ICE) has been linking socially-responsible investors with organizations in their communities that are working to provide affordable homes for lower-income families. From its origins in Greenfield, Massachusetts as a community-based solution to combat racial inequalities, through its affiliation with the National Housing Trust (NHT) in 2008, ICE has been on the forefront of community investment and lending. Today, new leadership and staff have re-energized ICE and the organization's dedication to providing loans that are tailored to fit the specific needs and budgets of your organization.
ICE is proud to support National Community Land Trust Network members as you work to engage and empower families that would otherwise not have access to secure, stable, and affordable homes. As the foreclosure crisis undercut the economic progress and security of countless families, CLT homeowners weathered the storm, experiencing foreclosure rates 10 times lower than traditional homeowners. During this time, ICE continued to finance shared-equity solutions, including lease-to-purchase loans to community land trusts in Albany, NY, Albuquerque, NM, and Durham, NC, in order to ensure that communities and families impacted by the housing crisis had opportunities to stabilize and build a better future.
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Over the past two years, ICE has approved more than $2.5 million in new loans from coast to coast. This past summer, Svaboda Court -- a Proud Ground project in Portland, Oregon -- celebrated its Grand Opening, creating a new community of CLT homes which are now being purchased by families earning up to $45,000 annually. This fall, the Champlain Housing Trust acquired the South Meadow Apartments in Burlington, Vermont, with plans to preserve the affordable apartments and convert a number of units into CLT homes. ICE worked with partner Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Community Housing Capital and Partners for the Common Good, to provide the capital needed to support both of these exciting projects.
ICE's mission and work continues to attract support from a growing base of socially-responsible investors and institutions like the Ford Foundation, as it maintains its efforts to develop innovative financing solutions that meet the needs of our industry. Continually seeking new community-based solutions through collaboration, ICE has participated with its sister organization, the NHT Community Development Fund, in efforts to preserve affordable rental housing, and during the recent Opportunity Finance Network annual meeting, ICE co-led a discussion on ways in which fellow CDFIs can support affordable homeownership through shared-equity housing. ICE is ready to work alongside your organization and provide creative financing options to meet the needs of your community and the families you serve.
CLTs should contact ICE Director Andy Slettebak -- (202) 333-8931, ext. 135 -- to learn more about what ICE can offer to your organization; click here for more information on ICE's lending products and footprint.
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