Lending and Investing
As a nonprofit Community Financial Development Institution (CDFI), CSH empowers affordable and supportive housing development through low-cost loans and New Markets Tax Credit investments. Developers receiving loans from CSH can opt to receive our nationally recognized technical assistance.
Our Loan and Investment Products
Our loan products are designed for housing developers dedicated to building and preserving affordable and supportive housing.
PROJECT INITIATION LOANS
CSH’s early Project Initiation Loans enable developers to conceptualize projects and get them started. Project Initiative Loans have flexible terms and very low interest rates. Developers may apply for a Project Initiation Loan to move a project through the feasibility stage of the development process. Typical Project Initiation Loans range between $50,000 and $100,000.
ACQUISITION LOANS
If you need financing to acquire real estate to develop supportive housing, CSH can help. Whether combined with a CSH Predevelopment Loan or on its own, acquisition loans offer simple terms, great rates and flexibility. A CSH Acquisition Loan can help you acquire and hold land while you assemble your construction, permanent and operating financing. Unlike many lenders, CSH will consider loan amounts of well over 100% of collateral value.
PREDEVELOPMENT LOANS
Early Stage: You may apply for early-stage CSH Predevelopment Loans once you have assembled a development team, project concept, financing plan, development schedule and have identified a site. You can use this funding to pay for costs incurred as you further assess the site and begin preparing financing applications.
Late Stage: CSH also offers late-stage Predevelopment Loans for projects that need a bit more funding to get to construction loan closing. As financing is assembled, there are often permitting, architectural and other activities that need to be completed before the construction lender will close.
CSH predevelopment loans are priced with a competitive interest rate and are flexibly structured to meet your project’s financing needs. Predevelopment loans may be unsecured or coupled with a CSH Acquisition Loan.
CONSTRUCTION LOANS
CSH offers construction loans where there is a lead lender that monitors construction progress and draws. CSH uses CDFI Capital Magnet Funding and other resources to help project sponsors fill a gap in their construction financing or blend down their interest cost.
NEW MARKETS TAX CREDITS
CSH invests New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) allocations in commercial real estate developments that provide services to extremely low-income individuals and families with complex health issues and are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness or are supportive housing tenants.
These developments include community health centers and programs offering supportive services such as social, healthcare, educational, food security and workforce development services. They are often co-located with or connected to supportive housing.
We invest NMTC allocations in projects that advance racial and health equity by expanding access to healthcare and supportive services in historically underserved and marginalized communities with high poverty, homelessness rates, and affordable housing needs. We have invested more than $410 million in NMTC allocations for 35 commercial developments across the country.
RACE INITIATIVE LOANS
Our Redesigning Access by Centering Equity (RACE) Initiative offers attractively priced lending products and grants combined with deep technical assistance and training customized for housing developers led or owned by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
Our commitment to race equity include a deliberate effort to shift CSH’s and our partners’ resources to communities that have experienced long-standing racism. In addition to making RACE Initiative loans and grants nationwide, we are currently conducting in-depth technical assistance and training to BIPOC developers in Baltimore, Chicago, Georgia, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, Oregon, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Washington.
For more information, visit our RACE Initiative page.
Click here to access our RACE initiative term sheet.
Benefits of CSH lending:
- Early, unsecured lending: Critical early-stage financing can be challenging for our borrowers to find. We lend early on an unsecured basis to enable borrowers to evaluate the feasibility of project sites and program concepts, enabling them to get supportive housing projects started.
- High LTV secured lending: We provide secured loans well beyond the value of the property, because supportive housing developers often do not have excess liquidity to fund the predevelopment costs needed to get them to construction closing.
- Low interest: We price our earliest stage loans, Project Initiation Loans, at 0% to 3% interest, to encourage developers to explore innovative supportive housing projects and to increase their development production. We aim to keep our interest rates on our other products at rates that are competitive and meet our borrowers’ needs.
- Paired with technical assistance: We pair our loan products with targeted technical assistance to guide project development. We work closely with borrowers from the earliest stages of project development, advising on project feasibility, takeout funding and quality supportive housing standards. This multi-faceted approach sets CSH apart from other lenders.
CSH’s deep relationships with foundations, government funding agencies, and lenders, along with extensive training and technical assistance, position high quality supportive housing projects for long-term financing.
CSH is a CDFI
CSH is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a U.S. Department of Treasury designation for private financial institutions that are dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable capital to communities that have historically not received investments from mainstream finance institutions. As a national nonprofit CDFI, we re-invest capital to drive affordable and supportive housing development. We pair our lending products with our technical assistance to guide developers through funding and zoning processes, integrating best practices in design, development, and operations, and prioritizing accessibility and quality. Visit the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) website to learn more about the work CDFIs are doing across the country.
Our Focus is Supportive Housing
CSH invests lending capital to create and preserve affordable and supportive housing units. Our New Markets Tax Credit investments include commercial real estate developments that provide healthcare and other services to supportive housing tenants. CSH is the only Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with an exclusive focus on lending to affordable housing projects that include supportive housing.
Our Lending Impact
Accelerating Supportive Housing Production and Preservation
With more than $250 million in lending capital and additional resources from multi-CDFI investment funds, CSH invests in affordable multi-family housing that includes supportive housing sponsored by nonprofit and for-profit developers. Tailored loans enable developers to build multi-family housing that create and preserve homes for extremely low-income individuals and families at risk of homelessness.
Investing in Healthcare and Other Services
CSH has invested more than $410 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations in 35 commercial projects nationwide, including 26 with a healthcare component. Many of these projects include co-located supportive housing. The New Markets Tax Credits are sold to investors raising critical equity to fill gaps in project budgets.
Centering Racial Equity
We prioritize projects that promote racial equity by supporting BIPOC developers. We have committed to deploy at least 50% of our lending capital to BIPOC-led organizations by 2027.
Building Capacity of Developers and Service Providers
Our investment products are often paired with customized technical assistance and training from our program staff who have deep expertise in designing, financing and operating supportive housing. We utilize tools such as CSH’s Supportive Housing Institutes and Supportive Housing Quality Standards to improve projects and build capacity of project development teams.
Leveraging Cross-Sector Partnerships to Promote Affordable and Supportive Housing
We know that developers face challenges like bureaucratic zoning laws and community opposition. We utilize more than 30 years of success developing cross-sector partnerships to engage governmental systems, advocate for effective policies and funding, and drive equitable investments in communities that show time after time, affordable and supportive housing builds thriving, safe communities.
Our Lending by the Numbers
Lending Capital
We have invested more than $1.5 billion in over 1,400 affordable and supportive housing projects, creating and preserving more than 62,000 affordable housing units, of which 43,200 are supportive housing.
New Markets Tax Credit Investments
We invested more than $410 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations in 35 projects that provide vital health and service programs for supportive housing tenants.
Lending Highlights
CSH proudly provided loans or New Markets Tax Credit allocations on these projects focused on creating thriving communities.
CSH $3.5 Million Pre-Development and Acquisition Loan
East LA Community Corporation Center – Los Angeles, CA
CSH issued a $3.5 million predevelopment and acquisition loan to the East LA Community Corporation (ELACC), a BIPOC-led nonprofit dedicated to developing affordable and supportive housing in Los Angeles. This loan is part of an $87 million project to construct a 140-unit affordable housing complex. The development will include 35 supportive housing units specifically for individuals experiencing homelessness and youth transitioning out of the foster care system. The project is slated for completion by mid-2026.
CSH $500,000 Pre-Development Loan
Solutions for Veterans – Agusta, GA
CSH provided a $500,000 predevelopment loan to Solutions for Veterans, a nonprofit organization focused on affordable and supportive housing in Augusta, Georgia. This loan is part of a $26 million renovation project creating 76 units of affordable housing. The development will include 22 supportive housing units dedicated to veterans who have experienced long-term homelessness.
CSH $10.5 Million NMTC Investment
Compass Health Behavioral Health Center – Everett, WA
SH invested $15 million as part of a $61 million total cost for a new 70,000 square foot intensive inpatient and outpatient mental and behavioral health center to be located in Everett, Washington. The project will serve adults with chronic mental illness who are transitioning out of more intensive mental health treatment settings, diverted from incarceration for mental health reasons and people requiring intensive supports to live independently in the community. The project is co-located with 145 units of LIHTC-funded supportive housing and a pharmacy.
CSH $10.5 Million NMTC Investment
40,000 Sq. Foot Meals on Wheels Facility – San Antonio, TX
CSH invested $10.5 million of a $20 million project that expanded the Meals on Wheels facility in San Antonio, Texas. Completed in 2022, the facility is able to serve more than 8,500 seniors annually and expand its day program for seniors with dementia, accommodating up to 75 individuals each year. The majority of Meals on Wheels’ clients are older adults living on low incomes, many of whom are Black or persons of color. The facility also provides essential services including nutritious meals, social interaction, safety and wellness checks, home modifications, and pet health programs.
Additional Lending Capital for Supportive Housing from Multi-CDFI Funds:
In addition to using our Solutions Fund and other resources to make loans, CSH is an originator for several locally based funds across the country. Developers may submit applications for these funds through our general application process. Projects must include supportive housing for CSH to originate a loan.
LOS ANGELES SUPPORTIVE HOUSING LOAN FUND – City of Los Angeles
Acquisition and Predevelopment loans for developers creating affordable housing that includes supportive housing that meet the requirements of the City of Los Angeles Permanent Supportive Housing Program. This fund is an exclusive partnership between CSH and the City of Los Angeles’ Housing Department.
NEW GENERATION FUND – City of Los Angeles
Acquisition and predevelopment loans for developers creating and preserving affordable housing in the City of Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY HOUSING INNOVATION FUND – County of Los Angeles
Acquisition and predevelopment loans for developers creating and preserving affordable housing in the County of Los Angeles.
lacda.org/affordable-housing/la-county-housing-innovation-fund
GOLDEN STATE ACQUISITION FUND – State of California
Acquisition and predevelopment loans for developers creating and preserving affordable housing in the State of California.
BAY AREA TRANSIT-ORIENTED AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUND – San Francisco Bay Area
Acquisition and predevelopment loans for developers creating affordable housing near transit lines throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
PARTNERSHIP FOR THE BAY’S FUTURE LOAN FUNDS – San Francisco Bay Area
Acquisition and predevelopment loans from the Bay’s Future Fund and the Community Housing Fund for developers creating affordable housing in five counties in the San Francisco Bay Area (Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco)
NEW YORK CITY ACQUISITION FUND – City of New York
Acquisition and predevelopment loans for developers creating and preserving affordable and supportive housing in the five boroughs of New York City.
Application Process
We would love to hear more about your project, your experience and the residents your housing seeks to serve. CSH considers applications for loans when at least 10% of the housing units in your project are allocated as supportive housing (the minimum for a CSH loan).
To speak with someone about a CSH loan or New Markets Tax Credits, please contact your local CSH representative or submit your inquiry below.
Notice of Rights Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
CSH is committed to ensuring that all individuals have equal access to our programs, services, and activities. In accordance with U.S. Department of the Treasury policy, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, CSH is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. If a person believes they have been subjected to discrimination, they may file a complaint with U.S. Department of the Treasury, Director, Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20220; call (202) 622-1160; or send an e-mail to: [email protected].