Neighborhoods feel financial institution’s impact
XS Tennis, which is located on 53rd and State, is one of many projects Chicago Community Loan Fund, a Community Development Financial Institution, has provided capital. Photo provided by Chicago Community Loan Fund
Chicago Community Loan Fund was founded in 1991 as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Cooperative housing was a focus in the beginning, but now, the organization has expanded to include vacant land acquisition and large scale commercial retail projects.
Chicago Community Loan Fund is a business-to-business lender that helps for profit businesses and non-profit organizations that have the capacity to resolve the problem of real estate. CCLF has grown into a $100 million fund since it was founded. It helps non-profits with working capital and equipment financing.
Englewood Square and Stony Island Arts Bank are just two projects Chicago Community Loan Fund has provided resources for in the last few years. “We also support local investors and developers that have a high interest in acquiring
and rehabbing one- to four-unit projects, where we can provide capital, 90 percent of cost, potentially, up to 120 percent loan
value to stabilize affordable rentals,” said Wendell Harris, vice president of lending operations for Chicago Community Loan
Fund.
Harris said that support is important when talking about the challenges surrounding appraised values of property in communities of color. “There is a huge narrative around communities of color not receiving their fair share of appropriate reviews of assets,” he said.
Harris said Chicago Community Loan Fund also worked with the city of Chicago on its Chicago Neighborhood Rebuild Pilot Program, to work with Cook County Loan Bank as well as Community Investment Corporation, to find an appropriate pool of assets so all those entities can work in concert. Harris said it takes all of these entities to solve the problem of real
estate.
Chicago Community Loan Fund is also working with the owner/operator of the Culver’s in Pullman, alongside Chase Bank, which will provide new market equity tax credit. Harris said while that is a larger transaction, he is also very proud
of trying to help smaller clients. “The goal of a CDFI is to grow our people into traditional finance, to lower cost finance. Not that our capital is not low cost, because our capital is very low cost and very flexible. But, our capital comes at a cost because we have to pay our investors. So, if we can grow these people into traditional finance and then grow into higher
capacity, that’s how we begin to be our own solution,” he said.
For more information, visit Chicago
Community Loan Fund, visit www.cclfchicago.
org.
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