December 8, 2021 (Arlington, VA) – Capital Impact Partners today announced a grant of more than $5 million from Amazon to launch an initiative focused on accelerating new opportunities for emerging real estate developers while also increasing affordable and workforce housing across Arlington, Virginia and the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. This funding is the most recent commitment from the more than $2 billion Amazon Housing Fund, which was established to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable homes in Amazon’s hometown communities — the Puget Sound region of Washington state, the Arlington, Virginia region, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Through this grant from Amazon, Capital Impact has created the Housing Accelerator Fellowship, a two-year, part-time professional development accelerator program, for a cohort of real estate developers with practical experience in the field and a focus on affordable housing development. The program, which is free for participants, provides:
- Real estate training with a focus on affordable housing production in the Washington Metropolitan area
- Small group mentorship
- Access to grant capital for pre-development expenses, such as architectural and engineering costs; permitting, survey, and site-planning fees; and market and feasibility studies. These funds are often the hardest and most expensive to raise for developers.
“Local developers bring enormous opportunity for ideas and creativity to community-focused real estate development, but the barrier to entry is often very high for these individuals,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance. “We are excited about the support from Amazon to create this fellowship and work to bridge those gaps and foster opportunity for developers.”
According to a 2019 study from the Urban Institute, the Washington, D.C. region requires an additional 375,000 housing units by 2030 to meet growing demand. To address this housing shortfall, coordination across government agencies and a diversity of key stakeholders is essential. The Housing Accelerator Fellowship will work with local developers to not only improve their skill sets but also begin to help address this important need for affordable housing.
The program further amplifies the ability of these developers to bring their ideas, perspectives, and local partnerships to work being done in the region. As members of their communities, the Fellows will engage with and listen to the community’s concerns and through their work provide greater access to employment and opportunity for residents.
“With this accelerator program, we are laser-focused on lifting up emerging real estate developers. We want to foster their professional growth through education and training, as well as improve their access to capital, which can be elusive,” said Catherine Buell, director of the Amazon Housing Fund. “If we are going to bring about lasting, holistic, and meaningful change to how affordable housing is developed, community-centric developers need to be a part of the solution.”
###
About Capital Impact Partners
Capital Impact Partners, part of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, is transforming how capital and investments flow into communities to provide people with access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. As one of the nation’s leading mission-driven Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), we help build strong communities and create generational wealth by deploying mission-driven financing, capacity-building programs, and impact investing opportunities.
Capital Impact Partners offers flexible financing for catalytic mission-aligned projects in four primary sectors: increasing access to health care, education, affordable housing, and healthy food.
In addition, we manage several multi-year initiatives in key regions to support emerging developers, small business owners, cooperatives, and community health enterprises through training, professional networks, access to experts and mentors, and pathways to grants and loan capital.
Capital Impact Partners has disbursed more than $3 billion since 1982 to create access to critical social services, grow entrepreneurs, and create quality jobs. Capital Impact Partners’ leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in the organization being rated by S&P Global and Fitch Ratings and recognized by Aeris for its performance.
The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations refers to the combined operations of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance, as well as their affiliates, Momentus Direct Capital and Momentus Securities (an SEC-registered broker-dealer, MSRB-registered, FINRA/SIPC member). While each organization under the Momentus Capital brand still operates as a separate entity, their clients will now have access to more resources and products.
With headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and San Diego, California, Momentus Capital operates nationally with a focus on larger urban areas and cities in Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Texas, and the Washington D.C. metro area.
Learn more at capitalimpact.org and momentuscap.org.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit aboutamazon.com.
