How will housing organizations and developers secure access to these funds?
Schaffer: We use New York as a model but then adapt that model to meet the needs and circumstances of Los Angeles. Typically, the housing developers, profit and non-profit, go to community development and financial institutions (CDFIs) as a source of pre-development lending. What we’ve done with the New Generation Fund is to engage the participation of all the CDFIs working in the city of Los Angeles as loan originators. Enterprise is one of originators, but the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), the Low Income Investment Fund, and Century Housing will also be originating loans. Forsyth Street Advisors, based in New York City, is the fund manager and we’re also working with the California Community Reinvestment Corporation here to assist with managing the local relationships. What are Mayor Villaraigosa and the city’s leadership priorities for this new fund? Schaffer: The fund is intended to advance the housing agenda of the city
