HOPE Homes: Ensures Housing & Services for Individuals with Disabilities
Recently, Genesis LA provided a $4.6 million acquisition loan to assist a nonprofit to purchase six single-family residences that will be operated as 24-hour care facilities for persons with severe to profound disabilities. The borrower in the transaction is Home Ownership for Personal Empowerment (HOPE), a service provider whose clients are diagnosed with autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and intellectual disability. HOPE's housing programs provide approximately 300 clients with independent living facilities, 24-hour care, and supportive housing for eligible community college students. Genesis LA's financing supported HOPE to quickly acquire the homes as it lines up long-term bond financing, which will repay our loan.

RETHINK Housing: More Projects in Pipeline

With homelessness and the cost of housing rising fast, pressure is mounting for innovative approaches to build more housing in less time and for less cost.  Over a year ago, Genesis LA launched a program called RETHINK Housing, to literally "rethink" the way we finance, design, and build affordable housing.  Our approach targets smaller sites for development of 2-20 units, where thoughtful design, "by-right" permitting, and streamlined financing can significantly reduce development costs.  

 

We usually work with a "one-stop-shop" team of experts that includes Restore Neighborhoods LA (development), Lehrer Architects (design), and Genesis LA (finance), a team that coordinates all aspects of project development to maximize efficiency. We also partner with specific service providers based on the project location and development program, to match the most appropriate residents and services with each site. 

 

Currently, we have one RETHINK Housing project in construction and four more in predevelopment.  Our projects include both shared housing and single studio units and usually have total developments costs that are between 1/4  to 1/3 of the cost of traditional affordable housing.
Innovation Award for RETHINK Partner
The Project is expected to complete construction in late 2019.
We extend our congratulations to our partners at Restore Neighborhoods LA, who were awarded $500,000 under the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative's Housing Innovation Challenge. The funds will support the Bungalow Gardens supportive housing project in South LA, to which Genesis LA is providing private financing under our RETHINK Housing program. A groundbreaking is expected in spring 2019.
 
Genesis LA thanks The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, UniHealth Foundation, and the JP Morgan Chase PRO Neighborhoods program for providing part of the capital used by Genesis LA to make RETHINK Housing investments.

Genesis LA Launches CORE Program to Address Displacement from Commercial Properties
Community Owned Real Estate Portfolio (various locations throughout East Los Angeles)
Inner city neighborhoods in Los Angeles are facing economic and social pressures resulting from a rise in speculative real estate investment. This has contributed to higher levels of residential and commercial displacement in low-income communities. 

To address these impacts, Genesis LA has launched a pilot program called Community Owned Real Estate (CORE), whereby we provide financing and technical assistance to community development nonprofits so that they can acquire commercial real estate off the speculative market. Thereafter, we facilitate financing to renovate the properties and operate them long-term as affordable and stable commercial space for neighborhood nonprofits and mom-and-pop businesses.

Since 2017, we have been working with East LA Community Corporation (ELACC), Leadership for Urban Renewal Network (LURN), and Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) to launch our first CORE investments. To date, we have helped the group to acquire four properties, which are expected to undergo renovation and lease up in mid-2019. We thank The California Endowment and Weingart Foundation, who have been investors in our CORE program. 

Stay tuned for more!
STAY CONNECTED: