AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Wins Award For Support Of Co-op Housing From National Association of Housing Cooperatives

RENO, Nev., Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) will be honored by the National Association of Housing Cooperatives (NAHC) for its investments in co-op housing. NAHC President Vernon Oakes will honor the HIT with its inaugural Development and Preservation of Co-op Housing Award at its annual meeting tomorrow in Reno.  Liz Diamond, HIT's Western Regional Director, will accept the award.

"The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust has been a consistent leader in investing in cooperative housing, which we consider the best model for affordable housing for working families," Mr. Oakes said. "We created this new award to recognize those who are helping to build and maintain co-op housing resources, and we are pleased to make the HIT the first recipient of the award."

The award highlights the HIT's recent investment of $134 million of union pension capital in New York City's historic Penn South Cooperative. The investment is financing needed improvements and preserving affordability for another 20 years at the 2,820-unit co-op development in mid-town Manhattan. The award also recognizes the HIT's $4.7 million investment in the Applewood Pointe of Roseville at Langton Lake, a 48-unit, $11.2 million senior cooperative in Roseville, Minnesota.  The Applewood Pointe project is the most recent of 15 cooperative housing projects financed by the HIT in that state.

"We at the HIT appreciate all the NAHC does to help working families by promoting cooperative housing developments, which contribute to residents' quality of life and also to a deeper sense of community that enriches us all," said Ms. Diamond in accepting the award. "The HIT shares this commitment as evidenced by the thousands of units of cooperative housing we have helped finance to date, and which we hope to help finance in the future through the investment of union pension capital."

The labor movement has a long history of supporting housing cooperatives as a source of affordable housing and homeownership for working families and retirees, especially in high-cost cities such as New York and Chicago, where, for example, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America sponsored the creation of thousands of units of cooperative housing dating back to the 1920s.

The HIT's investment in the union-developed Penn South Cooperative is the most recent example of its commitment to the preservation of cooperative housing in New York City. In the past 10 years, the HIT has helped to preserve the affordability of more than 10,000 co-op housing units at seven New York City cooperatives by investing $270 million of pension capital.

In Minnesota, the HIT has provided over $118 million in financing for 1,210 units at 15 cooperative housing projects, most of which are targeted to seniors who want to stay in their communities but prefer low-maintenance housing and an active lifestyle.

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 over $4.5 billion in assets for more than 350 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 45-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 approximately $6.5 billion to finance nearly 103,000 units of housing nationwide, generating over 70,000 union jobs.  More information is available on the HIT's website, www.aflcio-hit.com.

About the NAHC

The National Association of Housing Cooperatives (NAHC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit national federation of housing cooperatives, mutual housing associations, other resident-owned or controlled housing, professionals, organizations, and individuals interested in promoting the interests of cooperative housing communities. Incorporated in 1960, NAHC is the only national cooperative housing organization. The membership is represented through a national board of directors, which guides the policy of the organization. NAHC's mission is to support and educate existing and new cooperative housing communities as the best and most economical form of homeownership.  To learn more, visit the NAHC's website at www.coophousing.org

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

NAHC Contact:
Vernon Oakes
(202) 737-0797

SOURCE AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust