AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Provides $33 Million For "Five 15 On The Park" In Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) today announced $33 million of pension capital funding for construction of Five 15 on the Park, a 259-unit apartment complex in Minneapolis. The $52 million project is expected to generate approximately 260 union construction jobs at a time when construction unemployment remains high.

Five 15 on the Park is located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on the edge of downtown Minneapolis, an area that is experiencing a strong demand for affordable rental housing and that the city has designated a development district. Half of the units in the new six-story building will be affordable, with the remaining units to be market rate.  Plans for ground floor commercial space include a neighborhood community center, child day care center, and healthcare facility. These features, combined with the project's location near mass transit options, make Five 15 on the Park consistent with the goals of the Minneapolis Plan for Sustainable Growth, which promotes high density transit-oriented development.

"Five 15 on the Park is just the kind of development that Minneapolis and this neighborhood have said they need," said HIT Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Stephanie H. Wiggins.  "It represents sustainable, quality, affordable housing, well-connected to mass transit so that people have better access to jobs and services and community amenities.  We are very pleased to help make this project a reality."

Five 15 on the Park is the HIT's latest investment with mortgage banker Oak Grove Capital, LLC.  The HIT has helped finance 35 housing projects in Minnesota working with Oak Grove and its predecessor company.

In keeping with the HIT's labor requirements, all work on the project will be performed under collective bargaining agreements with the Minneapolis building trades unions.

"The HIT has been a good friend to the building trades here in Minneapolis through its investment in projects like Five 15 on the Park that are built all-union," said Dan McConnell, Business Manager for the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council. "These HIT-financed projects are creating good jobs for our members while showing the community the value of working union."

Five 15 on the Park is located directly across the street from historic Riverside Plaza, an iconic apartment complex that recently completed a substantial rehabilitation with help from $50 million in HIT financing.  The 1,303-unit Riverside Plaza development has been a major source of affordable housing for city residents for over 35 years.

The HIT has invested over $322 million in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area over the last 10 years, building or preserving almost 3,600 units of housing in 23 projects and generating over 3,200 jobs for members of the local building and construction trades unions. 

About the HIT
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) is a fixed-income investment company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It manages $4.6 billion in assets for more than 360 investors, which include union and public employee pension plans. The HIT invests primarily in government and agency insured and guaranteed multifamily mortgage-backed securities.  The HIT is one of the earliest and most successful practitioners of socially responsible, economically targeted investing, with a nearly 50-year track record that demonstrates the added value derived from union-friendly investments.  The investment objective of the HIT is to provide competitive returns for its investors and to promote the collateral objectives of constructing affordable housing and generating employment for union members in the construction trades and related industries.  Since its inception, the HIT has invested over $6.9 billion to finance more than 110,000 units of housing nationwide, generating 73,000 union jobs.  More information is available on the HIT's website, www.aflcio-hit.com.

Contact:
Michael K. Frisby
(202) 625-4328

SOURCE AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust