FALL 2014 NEWSLETTER
GENESIS LA LOAN HELPS CRCD PURCHASE NEW BUILDING
 
Future Offices for CRCD Enterprises

Genesis LA, in partnership with Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), financed Coalition for Responsible Community Development's (CRCD) purchase of a $1.1 MM building in the Vernon Central neighborhood.  The building will house CRCD Enterprises.  Genesis LA's $440,000 loan, matched by LISC's $440,000, will assist CRCD achieve long-term sustainability through building ownership. 

 

CRCD Enterprises was founded in 2010 and is the City of Los Angeles' largest contractor for beautification services including graffiti abatement, bulky item pick-up, alley clean-ups, Central Avenue maintenance and commercial corridor clean-up.  CRCD Enterprises employs at-risk youth between the ages of 17-25 and provides them with jobs as well as intensive case management.  CRCD delivers key community development services in an area once renowned for its role in jazz history. Vernon Central is located in South Los Angeles between downtown LA and Watts.  It was also home to the historic 28th Street YMCA and to Dr. Ralph Bunche, an African-American political scientist, academic and diplomat who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. According to a LISC-sponsored Quality of Life Plan, 52% of Vernon-Central residents are under 25 years old. The poverty rate is 40%, compared to 15% in Los Angeles County.
SCLARC LEGACY COMMUNITY PARTNER AWARD TO GENESIS LA
 
Tom De Simone (L) with Leandro Tyberg from Primestor Development

Genesis LA's President and CEO, Tom De Simone, received a "Legacy Community Partner" award during a luncheon celebrating the Southern California Regional Center's (SCLARC) 40th anniversary. 


SCLARC recognized Genesis LA for helping build permanent headquarters at the site of the historic Golden State building on Adams and Western Streets. The building is currently under construction and will open in the Spring, 2015.  The project developer is Primestor Development.  SCLARC is one of 21 regional centers serving developmentally-disabled communities throughout California. For more information on the project, see link: SCLARC
GENESIS-FINANCED STAR APARTMENTS CELEBRATE GRAND OPENING

Tom De Simone (center) at Star Apartments Grand Opening

On October 8, 2014, Genesis LA joined the Skid Row Housing Trust, the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles, residents, neighbors, supporters and local dignitaries to celebrate the grand opening of Star Apartments, a 102-unit permanent supportive housing project developed by Skid Row Housing Trust.  Genesis LA provided a $450,000 pre-       development loan to the project. 


The Star Apartments provides much needed supportive housing for the homeless, including 77 units for people living with mental illness, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse or co-occurring disorders.  The six-story development includes a Wellness Center that provides preventive care, nutrition, healthy and exercise programs and emergency care to residents.  The residential levels contain pre-fabricated efficiency units that are intricately stacked, "Lego-style", on a cantilevered podium structure. 

MY HOME, MI CASA RECOGNIZED AS MODEL FOR TRANSITIONAL YOUTH HOUSING 

Congratulations to Eric Hubbard, Jovenes, Inc.'s Development Director, for participating in the 2014 Social Innovation Fast Pitch competition.  Eric is the recipient of $5,000 as runner-up for his outstanding pitch about the resiliency of My Home, Mi Casa youth. 

Jovenes, Inc. is a Genesis LA borrower and partner to My Home, Mi Casa, a 100% Genesis LA-financed initiative which purchased and renovated homes and small multi-family properties in Boyle Heights and East LA.  The homes serve as transitional housing for at-risk youth.  For more information about the project and on how you can donate to Jovenes, Inc., see video to the right.
Jovenes
Jovenes, Inc.'s  Eric Hubbard
ONE SANTA FE:  AN ARCHITECT'S PERSPECTIVE

Genesis LA provided a New Markets Tax Credit allocation of $9 million to the commercial component of One Santa Fe, a mixed-use project made up of 438 apartments and 79,000 s.f. of commercial space located in the Arts District and designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture.  Recently, L.A. Times architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne, produced a meaningful critique of One Santa Fe and discusses how the project reflects the changing urbanism of Los Angeles. He states, "What gives the $165 million project its unusual symbolic power is that it takes the generic stuff of a typical L.A. apartment building - a wood frame slathered in white stucco and lifted above a concrete parking deck - and expands it dramatically to urban scale." For the full article, please refer here:  Christopher Hawthorne 

 

Uses for the 70,000 s.f. commercial component of One Santa Fe include a grocery store, several small, neighborhood serving businesses, a community center and offices for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  Up to 400 permanent jobs and 236 construction jobs will be created by the project in an area with a 10.7% unemployment and 35.6% poverty rate.  Genesis' financing partners include the Los Angeles Development Fund (LADF), Clearinghouse CDFI, Canyon Johnson and the City of Los Angeles.  
RECEPTION FOR GENESIS LA BOARD MEMBERS

Genesis LA's Community Advisory Board (CAB) members met members of the Genesis LA Board of Directors during a reception on October 2, 2014 held at CityLabs Boyle Heights.  Members also had the opportunity to see future plans and renderings for this Genesis LA-financed project, learn about each other's backgrounds and forge commitments to community economic development in LA.  For more info on board members, see CAB Members and GLA Board of Directors.  Photos from the reception and fundraiser for Leadership for Urban Renewal Network can be found here: Reception.


Genesis LA
801 S. Grand Ave., Ste. 625
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213.533.8900

Our mission is to bring capital and capacity to low-income communities.