California's Struggling Communities Get $60 Million Infusion From State's Leading Corporations.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 1996--Demonstrating corporate America's impressive commitment to rebuilding the communities where they are based, California corporations last year invested an unprecedented $60 million in nonprofit-led affordable housing initiatives in cities and rural communities statewide through Local Initiatives Support Corporation's (LISC's) California Equity Fund (CEF).

"LISC's California Equity Fund and its corporate investors such as Bank of America are one of the best illustrations of what I mean by a model approach for urban America," San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said today at a press conference held before Market Heights Apartments, a nonprofit-sponsored affordable housing development perched on a hillside above San Francisco's Farmers Market. "Corporations invest in communities because of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. Communities use sophisticated financing and grassroots leadership to develop thriving neighborhoods. Everybody benefits. Such partners, together with the city, will help us remain a vital economic player in the next century."

Quoted in NEF's annual report, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan echoed Mayor Brown. "The California Equity Fund is an innovative economic resource that helps leverage the efforts of local banks, nonprofits and the government to improve our community. CEF understands the critical importance of private investment and private enterprise in the community renewal equation. In working closely with the local LISC office and community development corporations, CEF is uniquely positioned to help neighborhoods turn themselves around."

From the inner cities of the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego to the Fresno and Sacramento valleys and rural communities in the Central and Coachella valleys, local nonprofit developers are producing quality affordable housing and restoring hope and opportunity for working families.

Following the lead of these nonprofit developers, and providing critical technical and financial support, is a dynamic partnership of government, national nonprofit community development support organizations, and dozens of California-based corporations who have recognized that community reinvestment is both socially and financially responsible.

That recognition led these corporations to commit $60 million last year in community-based affordable housing development initiatives through LISC's CEF. LISC is the nation's leading community development support intermediary and its equity fund affiliates are the leading nonprofit syndicators of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

In the Los Angeles area, CEF plans to invest $21.3 million from the $60 million 1995 fund in the housing initiatives of community-based developers. LISC and its affiliates have invested more than $136 million since its creation and helped local nonprofit developers produce some 5,000 affordable homes and apartments. These developments cover the length and breadth of Los Angeles, from the 18-unit, $2.5-million Vineland Place in Sun Valley, providing housing and job training and placement assistance for formerly homeless families, to the 81-apartment, $12.7 million Villa del Pueblo on South Hope Street, targeted to very low income families, and from the 16-unit, $2.6-million St. Andrew's Bungalow Court in Hollywood providing assisted housing for people with AIDS to the 18-apartment, $3 million One Wilkins Place in South Central Los Angeles.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who sponsored a "Dear Colleague" letter to the House leadership that was signed by a majority of the California delegation urging preservation of the Housing Credit, said, "I congratulate the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center and Housing Corporation for their success in the Market Heights development and commend them for their leadership in promoting affordable housing," Pelosi said. "Market Heights is about more than housing -- it is about dignity and hope for dozens of families. This development is an excellent example of how public-private partnerships work for America's communities."

"Community development corporations are responsible for dramatic transformations in communities all across America," LISC President Paul S. Grogan said. "In San Francisco, its such organizations which are improving neighborhoods all across the city -- from Bernal Heights to Chinatown, to Bayview Hunter's Point, the Mission District and the Tenderloin. Investing in these neighborhood developers is a proven strategy for successful community renewal."

"We have found our commitment to LISC's California Equity Fund to be one of the best business decisions we have made," Bank of America CEO David Coulter said. "Investing in affordable homes helps us as a concerned corporate citizen, concerned for the well-being of San Franciscans as well as residents around the state where we do business. Decent affordable homes are often the first step toward stable, thriving communities."

The Housing Credit is the leading producer of affordable rental housing in the nation, responsible for some 800,000 units and some $12 billion in private investment since it was enacted in 1986. Notwithstanding its success, however, Congress voted last year to terminate the Housing Credit as a permanent feature of the federal tax code as part of its budget reconciliation bill. President Clinton cited the Housing Credit provision as among the reasons he vetoed the budget bill.

"Developments like Casa Heiwa would not be possible without the corporate equity generated by the Housing Credit," said Lisa Sugino, program director, LTSC Community Development Director, sponsor of the 100-apartment, $17 million development in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. "CEF provided more than $6 million in equity for Casa Heiwa, which enabled us to reduce our debt exposure and keep this complex affordable for Little Tokyo residents. California's corporate leaders deserve praise for their investment in CEF, and in rebuilding communities."

LISC, created in 1979 by the Ford Foundation and based in New York City, is the nation's largest community development support organization and is active in 35 program areas across the country. In 15 years, LISC has raised close to $2 billion from some 1,400 corporations and foundations and helped 1,400 CDC's develop 57,635 affordable homes and apartments and 9.6 million square feet of retail, industrial and commercial space.

LISC's equity funds have raised almost $1.7 billion since they were established in 1987, $1 billion of that in the three years since the Housing Credit was made permanent, and have supported the development of more than 25,000 homes and apartments nationwide. With the 1995 fund, CEF has raised more than $280 million since 1988.

CONTACT: National Equity Fund

Marilyn Katz or Tom Warnke, 312-822-0505

or

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Susan Anderson, 213-250-9550,

or

Bernal Heights Housing Corporation

Helen Helfer, 415-648-0330