National Housing Trust and Enterprise Announce New Green Preservation Loan Product

Washington, D.C.—A new lending program from Enterprise and the National Housing Trust Community Development Fund has been launched, which will provide nonprofit owners and developers capital to jump-start green retrofits of affordable rental communities.

These green mini-loans provide below-market financing to incorporate green designs and techniques into preservation projects, and they can also be used for standard predevelopment activities, capital needs assessments and energy audits.

“We want to incentivize developers to incorporate green concepts into their project design,” Keiva Dennis, director of the National Housing Trust’s Community Development Fund, tells MHN.

The mini-loans can range up to $50,000 in value, with a term of 30 months, with interest payable quarterly. There is a 1 percent origination fee. The rate is set by committee, and will be approximately 5 percent.

“Below market-rate loans will be attractive to developers,” Dennis notes.

Borrowers who are eligible for the program are 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organizations, or limited partnerships with a nonprofit organization as the managing general partner, and general partners or wholly owned and controlled subsidiaries of a nonprofit.

Projects that are eligible include existing affordable multifamily projects. They must meet the 1993 Safe Harbor Guidelines that specify how a development project is deemed affordable by the IRS.
The program is now open for business, Dennis says. “We’re going to start making loans as soon as possible.”