City First Enterprises (CFE) is a nonprofit bank holding company and an incubator of social finance solutions located in Washington, D.C.  that promotes social justice by increasing economic access and expanding opportunity for low-wealth communities. CFE has launched City First Bank, City First Homes and City First New Markets Tax Credit Venture Fund. In total, the City First family has financed over 5,000 units of affordable housing, 8,700 school seats, and 4,600 jobs. City First Enterprises is a proud to be supported by a White House Social Innovation Fund and to join a class of the most innovative and effective nonprofits in the nation.

1425 T Street, NW Cooperative

Finding affordable housing is a continuing challenge for all Washington, D.C. residents, but even more so for families with modest incomes. As neighborhoods are reclaimed and new developments constructed, long-term residents are often out-priced and pushed out of communities they love – as was the case at 1425 T Street, NW.

Located in the 14th Street Corridor, this 30 unit, four-story property is in one of the most sought after real estate markets in Washington, D.C. A little while ago the residents were in the unexpected position of finding a way to remain in their homes as the original developer had plans to turn the building into market rate homeownership condominiums. That strategy would not have allowed the tenants to appropriately share in the financial benefits and would have displaced many who were living on a fixed-income.

That’s when CFE stepped in. Working in partnership with the 1425 T Street Cooperative, CFE structured more than $2 million in creative financing, which allowed residents to maintain ownership of the building and complete needed renovations.

The Pena Family are long-time residents of the 1425 T Street, NW Cooperative in the rapidly gentrifying 14th Street Corridor. City First worked side by side with the co-op to structure over $2 million in creative financing so members could retain ownership and complete renovation of the property.

Collectively, the City First Family of Companies developed a strategy and provided financing for the existing tenants to continue to live in their homes. CFE connected the residents with legal resources and assisted in the creative funding needed for the cooperative to reclaim control of their building. City First Bank provided the financing required for the cooperative to pay off their existing bank debt and provided additional construction dollars to complete the renovation of the property; and City First Homes executed legally binding permanent affordability agreements that balances wealth building with future affordability.

CFE feels that being a member of HAND is instrumental to achieving their mission. HAND provides meaningful training, peer sharing and networking opportunities throughout the year that keeps the organization updated on the housing industry and puts them in front of the right partnerships. Through HAND’s Internship Grant program they are able to build the capacity of City First through high-quality summer interns. In addition, staff has attended professional development opportunities through the training grants provided by HAND.

HAND is pleased to spotlight City First Enterprises which certainly contributes to our organization’s COLLABORATION, INNOVATION and TRANSFORMATION within the metropolitan area!

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The City of Alexandria will hold a public hearing on September 24th at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall for the purpose of obtaining public comments on two items: 1) the draft Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for the recently completed City FY 2015, and 2) the development of the One-Year Action Plan for City FY 2017.  The City will also accept written comments on these items beginning September 11th through September 25th at 5 p.m.

Persons wishing to comment on the draft CAPER or provide input on the development of the City’s FY 2017 Action Plan may do so in writing and/or by providing testimony at the public hearing to be held on September 24th.

The draft CAPER may be reviewed or picked up at the Office of Housing, Alexandria, VA from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, September 11th. Copies will also be available for review at the following City libraries:

•    BEATLEY CENTRAL LIBRARY:           5005 Duke Street

•    BARRETT BRANCH LIBRARY:            717 Queen Street

•    BURKE BRANCH LIBRARY:                 701 Seminary Road

•    DUNCAN BRANCH LIBRARY:             2501 Commonwealth Avenue

Written comments may be sent or delivered to the Office of Housing or emailed to cindy.metcalf@alexandriava.gov.  Written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on September 25th.  Comments received during this time period will, as appropriate, be addressed in the final CAPER and/or taken into account in the development of the FY 2017 Action Plan. Interested parties will have an additional opportunity to comment on the FY 2017 Action Plan when the draft document is released in the spring.

For further information or request for reasonable accommodations, please call Cindy Metcalf at the Office of Housing at 703-746-4990 or TTY (703) 838-5056 for the hearing impaired.

Below is the link to the City of Alexandria’s Draft FY 2015 CAPER:
http://www.alexandriava.gov/housing/info/default.aspx?id=74632

You are invited to a half day training workshop on the Community Reinvestment Act on September 15th from 10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Charles Houston Recreation Center.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond are partnering with the Northern Virginia Urban League to host this training workshop for community- and faith-based organizations to improve their ability to collaborate effectively with banks to help meet the credit and service needs of their communities.

Participants will be provided with examples of partnerships and other resources. The agenda will include: CRA Basics, The Essentials of Partnerships, and a panel including bankers and community based organizations who will discuss: Building Partnerships – Examples of Effective Partnerships between Financial Institutions and Community-Based Organizations

Click here for the event summary and to register.

The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) have been selected by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) to participate as part of a Living Building Challenge Affordable Housing Pilot Project. DHCD, with support from DOEE, applied for the award through a competitive process and the District is the only city on the East Coast to receive this award.

“As the District of Columbia works to create more pathways to the middle class, this selection by the ILFI to participate in this pilot project highlights how cross agency collaboration can provide unique opportunities for residents,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser.  “This initiative will position the District to become a model for green affordable housing, providing low- and moderate-income residents with the opportunity to own their own sustainable homes and save money on their utility bills. The District will continue to lead by example, providing residents from every corner of the city with housing options that are affordable and environmentally responsible.”

As part of the project, DHCD and DOEE will turn a formerly vacant site in the Deanwood neighborhood into an equitable, mixed-income, and sustainable development of 10-15 townhouses with an emphasis on cutting edge environmentally-restorative design. The project aims to attain a rigorous green building performance standard certification set by the Living Building Challenge.

Over the course of the next year and a half, seven teams across the United States will work toward the goal of creating development projects that can pursue the Living Building Challenge certification. The certification focuses on net-positive energy and water construction built with nontoxic and sustainably sourced materials and have a positive impact on the environment and surrounding community.

“DHCD is delighted to work with ILFI to pursue the Living Building Challenge on our site in the historic community of Deanwood,” said Director Polly Donaldson.  “DHCD is fully committed to affordable housing that provides a safe and healthy living environment and saves residents money on their utility bills in the process. We look forward to achieving even greater levels of sustainability through this collaborative effort.”

“This pilot project will be the District’s inaugural Living Building Challenge project, while creating healthy, resilient housing for low- and moderate-income families,” said DOEE Director Tommy Wells. “The Department of Energy and Environment is focused on providing equitable access to energy efficiency and renewable energy for the District residents who need it the most.”

“I am thrilled to see the District of Columbia take as an important need as affordable housing and use the Living Building Challenge as a framework to develop regenerative, living, and healthy communities,” said Jason F. McLennan, founder of the Living Building Challenge and CEO of ILFI.

Although the District received no direct funding for this project, the technical assistance package provided by ILFI equates to hundreds of hours of documentation review, facilitation, and other technical expertise at no cost. The District will be in a cohort of other pilot projects and learn best-practices from other project teams.

This project is an outcome of a partnership between DHCD, DOEE, and the DC Living Building Challenge Collaborative–a group of local professional volunteers committed to sustainability, education and implementation of the Living Building Challenge.  20 multidisciplinary design teams proposed Living Building Challenge concepts for the Deanwood site and inspired DHCD and DOEE to explore how to implement a Living Building Challenge project.

The 2015-2016 ILFI Living Building Challenge Affordable Housing Pilot Projects include:

Deanwood Neighborhood Development
Washington, DC
Department of Housing and Community Development & Department of Energy and Environment

RurAL CAP Housing – Muldoon
Anchorage, AK
McCool Carlson Green
Liberty Lane Apartments
Redlands, CA
A Community of Friends

HopeWorks Station, Phase II
Everett, WA
HopeWorks Social Enterprises & Housing Hope

Orchard Gardens
Sunnyvale, CA
First Community Housing

Coliseum Place
Oakland, CA
David Baker Architects, Resources for Community Development and the Association for Energy Affordability

Lawson House YMCA Renovation
Chicago, IL
Farr Associates & Holsten Development

For more information on the 2015 DC Affordable Living Design Competition, go to http://dclivingbuildingchallengecollaborative.wordpress.com.

For more information on the Department of Housing and Community Development, go to dhcd.dc.gov. For more information on the Department of Energy and Environment’s Urban Sustainability Administration, go to doee.dc.gov/service/sustainability. For more information on the International Living Future Institute, go to living-future.org.