Twin Cities reporter Beth Mattson-Teig reports in National Real Estate Investor on social impact investment funds set up to address the loss of affordable (and unsubsidized) rental housing.
The flurry of value-add apartment investing in recent years has sparked a countermove by public and private entities that are pooling their capital and stepping in to slow the erosion of the country’s low-income housing stock. Added to that, new private equity funds are popping up to take advantage of tax breaks created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 aimed at incentivizing investment in designated low income Opportunity Zones. The combined result is a surge in capital flowing into social impact investment funds.
The shrinking supply of unsubsidized affordable housing in the Minneapolis metro was one of the main drivers behind the launch of the Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) Impact Fund last year. The fund, which is a subsidiary of the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, kicked off with $25 million in funding, with plans to continue growing with future funding phases. Some of the participating investors include the McKnight Foundation, as well as Bremer Bank, Sunrise Banks and Western Bank, which is a division of American National Bank.
“The funding community, including the private banking world, absolutely understands why this housing stock is important to our economy and important to our social outcomes in the region,” says Rachel Robinson, NOAH fund manager.
Read the full story in National Real Estate Investor.
