Woodforest National Bank and Housing Partnership Network Join Forces to Combat Affordable Housing Crisis

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (February 23, 2022) /PRNewswire/ -- Woodforest National Bank^® (Woodforest) and Housing Partnership Fund (HPF), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and financing arm of the Housing Partnership Network (HPN), recently teamed up to offer an innovative lending product, "HPF FlexCap," designed specifically for developers of its national nonprofit network to continue to fight the affordable housing crisis across the Bank's 17-state footprint.

Through this new and responsive credit-enhanced loan program, HPF is now able to offer its members high-leveraged bridge loans to acquire naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) properties while providing project sponsors time to reposition the property for long-term affordability and financial sustainability.

"This new collaboration between Woodforest National Bank and Housing Partnership Network is a powerful new tool in our toolbox to optimize capital and deliver even greater impact to our nonprofit member developers," said Benjamin Greenberg, Director of Lending for HPF. "Our first deal maximizes the ability of our member, Wesley Housing, to advance inclusive prosperity by tripling the supply of quality affordable homes for families in a gentrifying neighborhood."

HPF and Woodforest's inaugural project consummated in January 2022 in the Arlandria-Chirilagua neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia with a $10.2 million loan to Wesley Housing Development Corporation to acquire 66 units of existing multifamily housing. The property is in a majority Latino community within a designated Opportunity Zone, where median household incomes are below 50% of Greater Washington's area median income, according to Wesley Housing. The project also received a $2.3 million grant from Amazon through its Amazon Housing Equity Fund which supports the company's commitment to increasing affordable housing near its main office hubs including Northern Virginia.

Doug Schaeffer, Executive Vice President, CRA Executive Director, Woodforest National Bank added: "The affordable housing industry understands that in many areas of the country, we can't simply build our way out of the supply shortage facing many communities in need of more affordable housing. We have created a strong alliance with HPN to continue meeting the critical needs of mission-driven housing developers by providing them a new avenue to responsibly acquire and preserve long-term affordable housing in the communities where our bankers live and work. We are proud this inaugural project in Alexandria demonstrates, yet again, that ground-breaking community development lending and public investment incentives can yield positive community impacts while supporting projects in underserved areas, including Opportunity Zones."