The Catalytic Fund CDFI certification opens doors to federal funding for community development

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has certified the Catalytic Development Funding Corp. of Northern Kentucky as a Community Development Financing Institution. The Catalytic Fund provides financing, technical assistance and development services to execute real estate development projects in the 20 urban census tracts that comprise Northern Kentucky’s urban core – across the five River Cities of Ludlow, Covington, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton.
 
The Catalytic Fund is the first organization in Northern Kentucky, the 3rd in Greater Cincinnati and the 12th in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to be certified as a CDFI.
 
Financial institutions that become certified by the CDFI Fund are eligible to apply for the comprehensive services it offers including grants and loans provided by Financial Assistance Awards, allocations of New Market Tax Credits, and bond guarantee programs that are administered annually.
 
To be eligible for CDFI Certification, an organization must be a legal, non-governmental entity that has a primary mission of promoting community development, provides both financial and development services and serves and maintains accountability to one or more defined target markets.
 
With this certification, The Catalytic Fund joins the CDFI Fund national network of financial institutions formally acknowledged through a rigorous application process to have a community development-based mission that expands economic activity and opportunity. The Catalytic Fund addresses the need for patient capital to support construction and/or rehabilitation of market rate housing and mixed-use real estate projects that are essential to the revitalization of Northern Kentucky’s urban communities. 
 
The Catalytic Fund provides capital to finance real estate development/redevelopment projects via a $10,000,000 investment fund to fill gaps between traditionally underwritten loans, developer’s equity, and project costs. Although the Catalytic Fund expects its capital to be returned, it can be patient and flexible allowing time for the project to succeed.
 
Some of the Catalytic Fund’s recent investments include:
 
The Market Lofts – Renovation and adaptive re-use of vacant building for market rate apartments
 
Pike Star – Mixed-use historic renovation project creating commercial space for a regional informatics accelerator and mixed income apartment units
 
Mutual Building – Conversion of long vacant but historically significant office building to street level commercial space and upper floor market rate apartments.
 
The Catalytic Fund also provides development services to structure and execute complex real estate transactions such as the property assemblages and lease negotiations resulting in converting two blighted properties to high impact community facilities, the Life Learning Center and the Kentucky Career Center in Covington.
 
From the Catalytic Fund