During a month focused on thankfulness, it seems fitting to shine a spotlight on partnerships. And Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) is thankful for many partnerships it has, including one with the Cincinnati Development Fund (CDF) that dates back to 2006.
As a federally certified community development financial institution, CDF is focused on lending funds to support low-income housing, mixed-use developments, historic preservation projects, neighborhood business districts and other developments that increase investment in under-served communities. As the economic development organization for the five Uptown neighborhoods, UCI works to attract development, investment, and jobs to the area, and then CDF supports those efforts through financial investments like NMTCs.
Both UCI and CDF are dedicated to preserving vibrant, inclusive neighborhoods and ensuring that redevelopment efforts in under-served communities benefit existing residents and businesses so they can grow with the neighborhood. NMTCs, which are designed to incentivize investment in low-income communities by attracting private investment, have been critical for both organizations to fulfill their missions.
That is why the two organizations have partnered to fund development projects in Uptown. UCI and CDF have both contributed NMTCs to several Uptown projects, including Uptown Gateway, the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, the Avondale Town Center, USquare at the Loop and the University of Cincinnati’s Digital Futures building. CDF has also separately contributed to Uptown developments, including Vernon Manor and DePaul Cristo Rey.
“Through our work with CDF, we have invested $182 million in NMTCs in Uptown, which has helped create jobs, provide access to healthy and affordable food, community facilities and healthcare centers, and renewed interest and development in the Uptown neighborhoods,” said Beth Robinson, President and CEO of UCI. “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with CDF in the coming years.”
According to Joe Huber, Chief Lending Officer and Chief Operating Officer at CDF, the two nonprofits complement each other well, creating the perfect partnership.
“Community development is all about collaboration. We believe that if one entity—for-profit or nonprofit—tries to go alone, it will never get done. You need all these different organizations that are in the ecosystem of community development to play a role to get these big projects done,” said Huber. “That's what's so fun about our role as a lender. The projects themselves are interesting and dynamic, but just as exciting is the ability to work with our partners like the Uptown Consortium and all these other groups. The collaborations are very rewarding in this field.”
Uptown Gateway, which is on the northwest quadrant at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Reading Road, is a mixed-use development with an underground parking garage and two office buildings, including the 180,000-square-foot Digital Futures building, which is currently under construction, so the NMTCs will offset construction costs for that building.
“We are so proud to support UC and the Digital Futures program,” said Huber. “The Uptown Gateway project is going to be a regional and national draw that will attract and retain young talent to our city, along with bringing tremendous outside investment to the Uptown neighborhoods.”
In addition to its work with UCI, CDF also has close relationships with The Port, LISC, community development corporations, and other key economic development organizations throughout the city.
For more information about the Cincinnati Development Fund, visit www.cindevfund.org. For more information on the Uptown Gateway development, visit www.uptown-gateway.com.