Equity Investment Group Provides Funding for International Civil Rights Center and Museum

RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A nearly $7 million investment coordinated by the Community Affordable Housing Equity Corporation (CAHEC) helped provide part of the necessary funding to complete the renovation of the historic building that houses the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, N.C.   The Museum and Center held its grand opening celebration February 1.  

Using state and federal Historic Tax Credits, CAHEC provided nearly $7 million, in conjunction with BB&T, to support the Museum's renovation of the F.W. Woolworth building originally built in 1929.  Other financing included federal New Markets Tax Credits and contributions from corporations and individuals.  

The newly-dedicated International Civil Rights Center and Museum showcases the Woolworth lunch counter sit-in, a critical milestone in the civil rights movement.  

As a tax credit syndicator, CAHEC provides equity financing, raised from corporate investors, to developers of qualified affordable housing and other community revitalization projects. Headquartered in Raleigh, CAHEC helps develop and foster safe and thriving neighborhoods throughout the Southeast and mid-Atlantic region. A nonprofit corporation, CAHEC also provides capital through a series of Community Investments that empower residents, promote the development of rental and ownership housing, and encourage sustainability within the communities that CAHEC serves.

"The opportunity to invest in and support the International Civil Rights Center and Museum furthers CAHEC's mission – to build community value – not only through affordable housing developments, but through the renovation of historic properties such as this and other mixed-use developments," said Dana Boole, president and CEO of CAHEC.  

"CAHEC is proud to be a part of the landmark accomplishment that the Museum represents.  We're happy we could help make it happen," Boole said.

In addition to helping fund the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, CAHEC has invested approximately $13 million in affordable housing projects in the Greensboro area for families, special-needs residents and the elderly.  

"One of our larger investments in the area was the restoration of Richardson Hospital as a home for elderly residents, another example of rehabilitating a historic structure to meet today's needs," said Charles Newcomer, CAHEC's vice president of acquisitions and underwriting.  

Originally built in 1927 to serve the city's minority community and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, L. Richardson Memorial Hospital was Greensboro's oldest surviving medical structure and has been recognized as being the "first modern black hospital" by historians.

"Investing in the renovation of Richardson Hospital allowed CAHEC the opportunity not only to save a historic building but to provide badly needed housing for the elderly in Greensboro.  It's exactly the type of project CAHEC seeks out and that our investors and developers take pride in," Newcomer said.

CAHEC was recently allocated $30 million in New Markets Tax Credits by the federal government and is actively seeking opportunities to support the development and redevelopment of commercial and mixed-use real estate primarily through the rehabilitation of historic buildings in distressed communities.

"New Markets Tax Credit projects will allow CAHEC to become even more involved in bringing communities back to life," Boole said.  

"In a much broader sense, through its investors and developers, CAHEC is indeed building community value, one structure at a time," he said.

Created in 1992 to help finance the development of affordable rental housing in North Carolina, CAHEC now ranks as one of the nation's top nonprofit equity syndicators. Its territory has moved beyond North Carolina's borders to encompass ten southeastern and mid-Atlantic states plus the District of Columbia. Its core business has also expanded from an exclusive focus on raising and investing capital in qualified low-income housing tax credit developments to include a variety of tax-credit preservation and community revitalization projects. In addition, CAHEC's innovative Community Programs provide residents of CAHEC-sponsored properties with economic, educational and enrichment opportunities. For more information, visit the CAHEC Web site at www.cahec.com.

SOURCE CAHEC