Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

EQUITABLE PUBLIC INVESTMENTneighborhoods. This increased desirability feeds aquick run-up in land values and related costs (e.g.,rents, property taxes). Single-family rentals are soldand converted to homeownership and substandardproperties are razed or improved to meet thedemands of the new, higher-income residents.Existing residents are subjected to multiple displacingpressures and existing businesses and employers facerising operating expenses and the steady loss of theircustomer base. Affordable rental property, residentialor commercial, is harder to find—and harder todevelop—as local community developmentcorporations (CDCs) and other affordable housingproviders struggle to make projects pencil out in thisnew, high land value marketplace.Given these facts, regionalism and equity face thesetwo challenges. First, how to consistently financeprogressive development as a key strategy for centralcity revitalization? Second, assuming the financing issecured and the development moves forward, how toensure that adjacent neighborhoods have a land baseavailable for greater affordable housing demand? Thesolutions may not always connect, but inAlbuquerque—thanks to a multi-stakeholder,community-based business planning process—theymight with “value latching.” The value latchingproject in downtown Albuquerque is a combinedeffort of the Enterprise Foundation, Marshall L. andPerrine D. McCune Charitable Foundation, andFord Foundation that advances a critical aspect ofregional equity—housing affordability. This profilehighlights the Enterprise Foundation’s experience insupporting this project.Funder InterestThe Enterprise Foundation’s Albuquerque focus is toensure that the city’s low- and moderate-incomeneighborhoods avoid the fate of similar, nowdisplacedneighborhoods in Santa Fe, N.M. Knowingthat a revitalized downtown would overwhelmadjacent neighborhoods—neighborhoods alreadyexperiencing early instances of property speculation—Enterprise saw value latching as an opportunity to getin early and make a proactive difference. In an erawhere affordable housing and communitydevelopment require increasingly innovative ways tocreate local assets, the Enterprise Foundationrecognized the unique importance of creating afinancial model that did not rely exclusively ongovernment dollars. Enterprise got involved viewingthis as an opportunity to meaningfully addressgentrification anddisplacement.Throughout thecountry, Enterprisepersonnel had seen“so many terriblethings happen” tocommunities at riskof displacement,according to EdRosenthal, director ofthe Santa Fe office ofthe EnterpriseFoundation. So, inAlbuquerque,In an era where affordablehousing and communitydevelopment requireincreasingly innovative waysto create local assets, theEnterprise Foundationrecognized the uniqueimportance of creating afinancial model that didnot rely exclusively ongovernment dollars.Enterprise embraced the opportunity to get in aheadof the social and real estate value curve.Regional/Neighborhood Equity ImpactsThe Arcadia Land Company (Arcadia) is aprogressive developer active in downtownAlbuquerque. Arcadia knew that financing apotential new development would require more thanjust conventional capital, but also “patient” capital. Itfound this capital in the McCune CharitableFoundation, New Mexico’s largest foundation andalso one with a mission-driven commitment tosmarter growth policies and practices. With Arcadia,McCune formed the Historic District ImprovementCompany (HDIC), investing $7 million inFoundation assets. The HDIC would be a “catalyticdevelopment company, [building] the initial privatesector projects anchoring the revitalized downtown,”according to Leinberger.A daytime view rendering of the Gold Avenue Loft in downtownAlbuquerque, a new progressive real estate development that “burys” a180,000-square foot, 630-car parking structure. (Source: Arcadia LandCompany and HDIC).45Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities