Our Fall Newsletter
The brand new East Boston Neighborhood Trust and so much more
We just ended quite a third quarter for Trust Neighborhoods, full of building the institution, preparing for the marketing of the two funds, growing the existing MINTs, and forming two new MINTs. The Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust went in front of the Fresno City Council, and the newly-formed East Boston Neighborhood Trust acquired 114 apartments in 36 buildings, growing community-accountable ownership in the already gentrifying neighborhood. We’re thrilled, we’re thankful, and we’re catching our breath. We’ll share more below along with a few other updates:
East Boston–looking across the neighborhood towards downtown Boston from EBCDC and TN time together this summer.
Welcoming the new East Boston Neighborhood Trust
In September, in partnership with East Boston Community Development Corporation (EBCDC) and a diverse group of other stakeholders, we formed the East Boston Neighborhood Trust (EBNT), which immediately acquired 36 buildings with 114 family-sized units to be managed at a mix of incomes. EBNT will work in the coming years to roll back displacement in the neighborhood. The transactions follow an intense summer of bringing together disparate stakeholders, assembling a complex capital stack, and navigating the challenges of rising interest rates. We’re excited for this powerful application of the MINT model in a center of substantial gentrification in Boston.
We’ll dedicate a future deep dive to more details on the project, but for now we want to thank the champions that came together to make East Boston Neighborhood Trust possible from the beginning. First of all, thank you to EBCDC, and especially Tanya Hahnel there, who have been incredible partners to work with, along with the impressive tenant organizers at City Life / Vida Urbana, earliest investors at the Boston Impact Initiative, and great teams at the City of Boston, Eastern Bank, Goulston & Storrs, and Klein Hornig.
This project also could not have happened without the Barr Foundation and the Crimson Lion / Lavine Family Foundation’s support, and a strong investor group of Fresh Pond Capital, the Jobin-Leeds Partnership for Democracy and Education, Saltbox Financial, Amanda Hall, Pam Kohlberg, Naomi Sobel, Becky Silverstein, the Grossman Family, the Hyams Foundation, the Boston Foundation and the Eastern Bank Foundation. The EBNT team was able to raise $7.8 million in equity and sub debt to make this $53 million project possible, and was oversubscribed on that raise. We hope to carry this appetite for investing in these projects as we bring MINTs to scale with neighborhoods across the country.
A Growing Kendall-Whittier Neighborhood Trust
Since our last newsletter, KWNT has grown its work thoughtfully and energetically in Tulsa. KWNT has continued at a steady rate with its acquisition and renovation work with 18 properties with 20 units of housing. Its work is also expanding with a pending $2 million follow-on equity raise. KWNT hosted a celebration for one of its first heavily renovated properties this summer with so many of the people who have become a part of its work: neighbors, carpenters, architects, funders, organizers, brokers, Board and Trust Stewardship Committee members.
Housewarming at the Kendall-Whittier Neighborhood Trust–Partners and neighbors toured a newly renovated KWNT home (and shared paletas) this summer.
Growing Together and the KWNT team also came and toured the work of the Lykins Neighborhood Trust with some of the Trust Neighborhoods team:
Creating a Peer Group of MINTs–Members of the Tulsa Growing Together team tour the work of the MINT in Kansas City
A MINT in Organization – Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust
The summer has been full of resident workshops and building partnerships as the Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust (CFNT) comes together with Lowell CDC. This has included four multilingual workshops with residents, complete with dinner and thoughtful discussions as residents have written their Purpose Agreement for CFNT. Since our last newsletter, CFNT has secured its first funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, it has begun early acquisitions in parallel with organizational work, and the City of Fresno has expressed interest in providing substantial supportive funding. This began with inclusion of the MINT in the Mayor’s Housing Plan and has advanced to presentation to the full City Council. We’re helping fill out the capital stack, complete formal organization, and close on initial funding CFNT by the end of the year. If you have ideas of possible funders or partners, please contact us.
Workshopping a Purpose–Ben and Kavya work with the CFNT Resident Task Force on the Purpose Agreement as part of CFNT formation workshops.
Expanding the Northeast Neighborhood Trust
The Lykins Neighborhood Trust is transitioning into the Northeast Neighborhood Trust, with an expansion in its geographic focus to encompass all of Kansas City’s Historic Northeast. This follows the vote of the Trust Stewardship Committee and an ongoing interest in having LNT play this role in its larger neighborhood. As part of this, the LNT is renaming itself the Northeast Neighborhood Trust, or NENT. NENT is also closing soon on a second round of equity funding totaling $1.7 million and has continued a steady set of impactful acquisitions and renovations.
Meaningful presence–Highlighted MINT properties bringing impact through renovation and preservation along one street in Kansas City, MO.
Preparing for two national funds
Supported by Arnold Ventures, the TN team has been working with Morgan Lewis and Mission Driven Finance on designing and preparing two funds we’ll soon be launching: a subordinated debt fund and a Catalyst Fund for equity investments in MINTs. More to come in coming newsletters, or reach out if you want to hear more about this work. We’ve been lucky to work with brilliant partners as it comes together.
And much more
On the other side of the East Boston launch, we are also looking forward to working with some new neighborhoods in early 2023. We paused the Cleveland MINT formation as Metro West CDO has brought on new hires in housing and leadership. We’ve also had great early diligence calls with additional neighborhood partners, and are looking forward to sharing new partners in the new year as our capacity opens up. We continue to receive regular interest from potential new partners, and also welcome reaching out with interest or recommendations. We’ve also been hiring and building our board and are excited to share more there soon.
Many thank yous
The Wells Fargo Housing Affordability Philanthropy team and the Crimson Lion / Lavine Family Foundation have both recently provided generous follow on support. LISC through its Kansas City office has provided new grant support, and Kataly came on as a new donor earlier this year. Thank you.
We’ve also seen a growing community of funders and investors. Alongside EBNT, KWNT has seen St. John the Ascension join, and we hope to soon have news to share on the many partners that have come forward to make NENT and CFNT possible.
Spend time with us:
We’ll be at SOCAP22 next week. Say hi!
The Urban Institute and Ivory Innovations have us on a panel in DC on November 15, rsvp here for in person or virtual attendance.
The KC MINT will have an Open House at one of its newest properties on Oct. 29th.
The East Boston Neighborhood Trust will have a celebration, likely Nov. 9th, let us know if you’re interested, and we can send on details as they come together.
TN in recent media:
City of Boston // Oct 12, 2022 // City of Boston and East Boston Neighborhood Trust announce acquisition and expansion of affordable housing in East Boston
Inman // July 11, 2022, Finalists for the 2022 Inman Innovator Awards
Housing Lab // July 7, 2022 // Housing Lab 2021 Cohort: Meet Trust Neighborhoods [ video ]
WGBH Boston // June 29, 2022 // New East Boston affordable housing effort would be the first of its kind on the East Coast
Rethink Real Estate for Good. // June 29, 2022 // Slaying gentrification [ podcast ]
Shelterforce // June 16, 2022 // Residents owning their local economy
Economic Architecture Project // Spring, 2022 // New models for just development in the housing market
Acumen Where to Next // May 3, 2022 // Why Mixed-Income Neighborhood Trusts can help build wealth and opportunity
The Salt Lake Tribune // April 30, 2022 // Utah competition seeks big solutions to affordable housing
The Builders Daily // April 21, 2022 // Ivory Prize top 10 finalists renew hope in a vibrant American dream