The new Invest Detroit fund is bringing under one umbrella six targeted funds that represent $125 million in money and tax credits for the city. Leadership includes board chairman Matthew Cullen and president Dave Blaszkiewicz. "The intention here is to really bundle all these tools and resources together and employ them...to support community and economic development," Blaszkiewicz says.
Invest Detroit manages both nonprofit and for-profit targeted funds, which include:
• Detroit Investment Fund, which finances business expansion, the purchase of equipment and real estate development for growing companies;
• Lower Woodward Housing Fund, a revolving loan pool intended to facilitate the creation and renovation of Downtown housing units;
• Predevelopment Funds (Woodward Corridor Development Fund, Real Estate Assistance Fund, Michigan State Housing and Development Authority Fund), that provide funding for costs incurred in the early stages of a project;
• Urban Retail Loan Fund, which provides financing for small and mid-sized neighborhood retail and storefront businesses in the Greater Downtown area;
• New Markets Tax Credits, which offer credits worth 39% of the value of the investment in low-income communities, claimable over seven years;
• First Step Fund which, in partnership with partnership with the New Economy Initiative, TechTown and Ann Arbor SPARK, is designed to provide qualified emerging businesses with access to capital and support consistent with growing their business.
Projects
currently supported by Invest Detroit's managed funds include M-1 Rail, the Creative Corridor, the West District, TechTown, 15 x 15 and the Midtown Anchor Strategy. The collective results these managed funds to date
include $500.5 million in economic development with an additional commitment
of $68.6 million; 2,000 jobs; 1,490 housing units; over 2 million residential square feet; more that 1.5 million commercial square feet; and
40,000 retail square feet.
Source: Dave Blaszkiewicz, Invest Detroit
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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