Charlotte Housing Opportunity Investment Fund

Description: The Charlotte Housing Opportunity Investment Fund (CHOIF) is a project brought together by the Foundation for the Carolinas and the City of Charlotte Housing Trust Fund (CCHTF) and partnered with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The goal of the fund is to improve equity and access to affordable housing for underserved Charlotte households.
The CHOIF deploys both debt and equity financing to developers for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable and mixed-income housing units in the city. The partnership with LISC allows Charlotte to maximize and leverage the private and public CCHTF capital and effectively double the city’s investment in affordable housing.

This project was able to assist the funding of 1,047 affordable housing units, with 25% being at or below 30% AMI. A total of $53 million was raised and $43 million closed in third-party capital within the first three years of its inception. The fund partners with Ally Financial, Bank of America, Barings LLC, Duke Energy, Fifth Third Bank, Foundation for the Carolinas, LISC Charlotte, Novant Health, Truist Bank and Wells Fargo to make this program possible.
What makes it different: LISC Charlotte’s unique position makes it possible to leverage both local expertise and national resources as one of the nation’s largest community development organizations. CHOIF’s products are unique in that they meet all the diverse investors’ impact requirements, fill the gap in affordable housing, and can be scaled in Charlotte and cities across the U.S.

Resource: https://www.liscstrategicinvestments.org/choif-charlotte-housing-opportunity-investment-fund

Contact: Ralphine Caldwell, rcaldwell@lisc.org