Expanding Affordable Housing & Supporting Community-Rooted Developers
Affordable housing development firms—both nonprofit and for-profit—are a critical resource for strengthening the housing development ecosystem as a whole and expanding the supply of homes that are affordable.
To increase the supply of homes that are affordable and to support the sustained growth and financial independence of experienced development firms working in disinvested communities, Wells Fargo launched GDHD. Flexible and patient capital, a strengthened balance sheet, and increased access to industry connections and resources will help experienced development firms working in disinvested communities to grow their capacity and expand their affordable housing production into the future.
Capital Impact Partners, Low Income Investment Fund, and Reinvestment Fund—three national Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)—have partnered to implement this $30 million initiative on behalf of Wells Fargo.
GDHD builds on Capital Impact Partners’ successful Equitable Development Initiative training program for emerging real estate developers across the country.
Program Implementation
Capital Impact Partners, LIIF, and Reinvestment Fund will work to deliver essential capital and capacity building to community-centric development firms based in GDHD’s core geographies: California; Texas; Georgia; and the New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington Metro regions.
With the goal of supporting development firms to produce a minimum of 1,500 affordable housing units across the cohort over the next six years, we have selected 27 firms with affordable housing development pipelines in these focus geographies to join a national learning cohort, which will take place over four years.
In committing to the program, participants will receive access to:
- The Wells Fargo National Learning Cohort, featuring a monthly curriculum tailored to participants’ desired learning outcomes; peer learning sessions; advisory services; dedicated mentors; and national and regional events to provide essential knowledge and networks to support business growth.
- Access to enterprise-level grants to fund investments in infrastructure, staff, and other resources needed to build the capacity of participants’ organizations.
- Access to flexible loan products to fund their affordable housing pipeline in the focus geographies.
Our Partners
This initiative is made possible through Wells Fargo’s $40 million grant initiative that aims to increase equity in access to capital and training for housing entrepreneurs working in disinvested communities to grow their businesses. Capital Impact Partners, LIIF, and RF are implementing the program using $30 million of that investment.
Coalition Partners
Our Broader Support for Community-Rooted Developers
GDHD expands on each of the coalition partners’ programming supporting developers working in disinvested communities to participate in real estate development in their regions. Here are examples of initiatives we are each working on that invest in the futures of developers.
- Reinvestment Fund has financed investment vehicles in Philadelphia and Baltimore to support undercapitalized housing developers, particularly those historically underrepresented in development.
- Capital Impact Partners has trained, or is training, nearly 200 emerging real estate developers through its Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) programs in the Detroit, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Atlanta, and Dallas areas; and welcomed its first cohort of the Housing Equity Accelerator Fellowship in the D.C. region in May 2022.
Meet Our GDHD Participants
Our GDHD participants represent a group of individuals with a range of backgrounds and experience. We invite you to learn more about them by downloading the fact sheet below.
We’re here to answer your questions.
Jeffrey Mosley
Director, National Real Estate Programs
Stories of Impact
In this video, Ellis Carr talks about Momentus Capital’s efforts to utilize mission-driven financing, social innovation programs, capacity building, and impact investing, to advance issues of social and economic justice.
Video Series
Equipping Developers to Build Their Communities
Watch our video series to learn more about the GDHD program and the impact it’s making for developers and the communities they serve. You’ll hear from GDHD participants and leaders themselves.
Learning New Skills to Shape Their Future
The EDI program provides key skills to promising individuals representing a broad spectrum of community development expertise. Follow along as we take a deep dive with three participants to learn more about their backgrounds and their future plans.
