New Real Estate Fund Benefits Communities Of Color
SoLa Impact, a leading Los Angeles-based real estate fund recently launched its newest initiative – a $1 billion ‘Black Impact Fund’. The billion-dollar initiative is exclusive for Black and Brown communities in major urban markets.
The time to act is now.
CEO of SoLa Impact and founder of the Black Impact Fund, Martin Muoto proudly shared a new project as a result of their successful investments in Los Angeles’ African-American and Latin communities. Because of their over a decade of experience, they have learned a great deal in delivering near-term and long-term dividends for both investors and the community.
Creating shared prosperity and racial equity is SoLa Impact’s bold and ambitious response to the longstanding racial discrimination in housing compounded with today’s financial stress due to pandemic.
The new fund is divided into two which will work side-by-side;
- $500 Opportunity Zone fund
- $500 Non-Opportunity Zone fund
The $500 million Non-Opportunity Zone Fund is for non-profit organizations to invest and become meaningfully involved. They are the organizations that were not able to participate in the Opportunity Zone tax benefit such as; endowments, foundations, pension funds, and other mission-aligned institutional investors.
How does the community participate in economic gains that are created?
This has been the biggest question that SoLa Impact could hardly answer. However, the Black Fund is the answer. Among Black Impact Fund’s unique features is its unconventional way of ensuring that the communities would really benefit from the Fund’s investments.
Thirteen percent of all asset appreciation and fees earned will fund its affiliated, not-for-profit – The Black Impact Community Fund. The Black Impact Community Fund will maximize the;
- for-profit Fund’s size
- operating efficiency
- purchasing power to build “for-sale” housing for community members to purchase at cost
Most importantly, Black Impact Community Fund will not just encourage homeownership. It also enables the community to participate in wealth creation.
Chief Impact Officer of the Black Impact Fund, Sherri Francois also shared the reason behind the 13% figure share of The Black Community Fund. The number 13 represents the percentage of African Americans in the U.S. and pays homage to the Thirteenth Amendment.
Furthermore, the Community Fund will also partner with faith-based organizations, local governments, and other non-profits to better utilize surplus land and underutilized lots in coming up with affordable housing or related projects as deemed important by community stakeholders.
In fact, the Fund’s sponsors have already been approached by dozens of developers and several city mayors to help bring the Black Impact Fund’s Opportunity Zone and Non-Opportunity Zone capital to underserved and underinvested communities.
To sum up, Mouto concluded, “There is now a broad consensus that investing in African American and Latin communities and fund managers is critical. In fact, dozens of banks, Fortune 100 companies, foundations, and endowments have made public commitments to do so. The Black Impact Fund is about creating practical solutions to the growing racial and income inequality that continues to polarize the country.”
