Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Coordinating Council of Broward (CCB) (www.CCBroward.org) has been awarded a $75,000 grant by JPMorgan & Chase Co. to create a housing intermediary that will address Broward County’s affordable housing crisis.
The intermediary will help Broward’s non-profit sector grow capacity, identify development opportunities, leverage financial resources and provide development assistance to increase the overall supply of affordable housing in Broward County. The CCB will use the grant from JPMorgan Chase to build its business plan, understand the needs of the local nonprofit housing community and reach out to key stakeholders in the private and public sector.
“We appreciate the partnership with JPMorgan Chase in providing the funding to create a housing intermediary. The ability to leverage funds is critical in addressing our housing crisis in Broward,” Sandra Veszi Einhorn, executive director of the Coordinating Council of Broward. “Having a local intermediary that understands the nuances of our community will provide an additional benefit for the nonprofits and developers we will be able to serve and partner with.”
Initially, the intermediary will conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and market analysis of all housing non-profit organizations, public housing entities and alternative funding sources. In addition, the plan will evaluate:
- Available lending products to different types of real estate
- Market demand for predevelopment
- Land acquisition and bridge financing opportunities
- Capital requirement needed to fill the demand over a realistic time frame
- Impact on the socio-economic vitality of Broward County
- Potential job creation demand resulting from affordable housing developments
CCB plans to capitalize the intermediary from local housing trust funds and leverage bank community redevelopment agency loans, investments and grants. Other stakeholders, such as major employers and anchor institutions, may also contribute.
Since 2016, the CCB has taken the lead on building consensus to address the affordable housing crisis in Broward. Last year, the CCB facilitated a countywide housing summit to provide direction and critical public input for the creation of Broward’s first comprehensive countywide housing plan, Housing Broward: An Inclusive Plan, which was published earlier this year. Additionally, the CCB has led the support for public initiatives, including changes to an impact fee waiver from the Broward County School Board and a Charter Review Commission ballot initiative to create the Broward County Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The CCB’s goal is to address the affordable housing crisis in an equitable manner; provide housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income households; increase healthy, well-designed and sustainable housing supply in a tight housing market; and create housing that is connected to good schools, work, transportation and healthy lifestyles.
“Florida has one of the nation’s highest rates of cost-burdened renters and greatest shortage of affordable housing,” said Lisa Anderson, head of Chase Middle Market Banking in Broward. “It is critical to establish a local intermediary who can work with local leaders and organizations to come up with innovative ways to solve this problem.”
For more information about CCB, housing intermediaries and/or the Housing Broward plan, please contact Sandra Veszi Einhorn, at (954) 507-7156 or sandra@npobroward.org.
