The Community Development Trust (CDT), the country’s first and largest private real estate investment trust (REIT) which provides capital for the preservation of affordable housing on a national basis, announced two major milestones: the company’s 15-year anniversary and eclipsing the $1 billion level of cumulative investments in affordable housing.
CDT passed the $1 billion landmark with a $40 million portfolio closing in California and two new commitments in New York.
“We’ve come a long way, from our first deal in affordable housing fifteen years ago, which impacted 35 families, to our most recent investment, which has extended our total reach to nearly 35,000 families,” said CDT president & CEO, Joseph Reilly.
“Providing over 100,000 people with safe, affordable housing is absolutely our proudest accomplishment to date, and we look forward to growing that number over the next fifteen years.”
CDT’s total investments are split approximately equally between equity properties and mortgage loan investments. The organization’s $1 billion milestone in total cumulative investments came on the heels of its latest transactions.
CDT recently completed a $40 million loan portfolio purchase from California Community Reinvestment Corporation (CCRC). CCRC, a long-term customer and fellow Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has been a partner since CDT’s inception.
CDT also added two New York-based forward commitments to its debt program.
The organization committed $5.2 million to Grant Park, a 56-unit family development in Yonkers, NY. The 30-month forward commitment, executed in May, is part of a multi-phase redevelopment of a 264-unit housing project. The project follows CDT’s recent $9.3 million forward commitment at Wincoram Commons, a 98-unit family development in Coram, NY.
As CDT’s largest forward commitment to date, Wincoram Commons will create a new town center in a previously blighted area. Together with CDT’s ongoing redevelopment at Ocean Towers, these two properties represent the organization’s increasing investment activity in New York State.
During its 15-year history, CDT has acquired equity properties that comprise more than 6,800 units of affordable housing. The organization’s first equity investment was in Summerfield Townhomes, a 396-unit Section 8 property in East Hartford, CT, which CDT still owns today, and its most recent, a $52 million acquisition and ongoing rehab at Ocean Towers, a 360-unit former Mitchell Lama property in Coney Island.
“Over the past fifteen years, CDT has seen growth both in the size of our portfolio and in the complexity of our projects,” Reilly said. “However, despite, and maybe even because of this progress, we have also managed to maintain a level of consistency in our work. We pride ourselves on creating relationships for the long-term, and that is apparent in both our work and in our investor relations.”
