Commercial Acquisition Fund: Cycle 1
Past Projects
Community Coalition & Primestor Development
About
Community Coalition (CoCo) and their partner Primestor Development, a social purpose developer, acquired an abandoned commercial property which will be renovated into a community-serving food hall. Community Coalition is partnering with Gentefy, a mission-driven firm, to help develop and operate the food hall. Building on Gentefy’s success with a similar project in Montebello (BLVD MRKT), the project will provide affordable commercial spaces for 8-10 small businesses and serve as a thriving “third space” with arts and cultural programming.
Loan Amount
$2,000,000
Property Specs
5,365 square feet
Address
8601 S Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90044 (Supervisorial District 2)
Development Type
Rehabilitation
Partners
Community Coalition and Primestor Development
Freedom & Fashion and Backyard CrossFit
About
Freedom & Fashion acquired a recently renovated commercial property that will house a local small manufacturing production business. In the long-term, the organization plans to relocate its programmatic services to the property and co-locate with Backyard Fitness to offer wellness training. Freedom & Fashion (recently rebranded as Feral), provides survivors of trafficking and domestic violence with education and resources.
Loan Amount
$1,495,000
Property Specs
5,200 square feet
Address
5440 Alhambra Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90032 (Supervisorial District 1)
Development Type
Rehabilitation
Partners
Freedom & Fashion and Backyard CrossFit
Holos, Inc.
About
Holos acquired an abandoned commercial property near the Vermont/Beverly Metro station that will be redeveloped into a mixed-use project, providing mixed-income housing to local residents and at least 3,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space that will be leased to local small businesses. In addition to being a transit-oriented development, the property is located next to a Holos-owned site that provides housing for individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness; the CAF-funded project will thus provide housing opportunities for individuals moving from low-income rents to middle-income rents to market rents.
Loan Amount
$1,565,306
Property Specs
3,500 square feet
Address
315 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90006 (Supervisorial District 3)
Development Type
Construction
Borrower
Holos, Inc.
Inner City Kitchen and Destination Crenshaw
About
Chef Crystal Blanchette acquired a property in South Los Angeles to serve as the site for Inner City Kitchen, a food and retail hub she has long envisioned to provide both healthy food education for the community and commercial opportunities for local restaurants. Chef Crystal partnered with Destination Crenshaw, a non-profit focused on developing the Crenshaw Corridor, which has undergone rapid growth in recent years, with the installation of a Metro rail transit line and new housing development.
Loan Amount
$1,049,000
Property Specs
10,786 square feet
Address
6400 Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90043 (Supervisorial District 2)
Development Type
Construction
Partners
Inner City Kitchen and Destination Crenshaw
Lockout Music Studios and Long Beach Blues Society
About
Lockout Music Studios, in partnership with the Long Beach Blues Society (LBBS), acquired an abandoned mental health facility in Long Beach that has been transformed into an accessible creative hub with comprehensive studio spaces to facilitate music production, rehearsal space, artists, and other creative entrepreneurs. Lockout Music Studios' monthly studio licensing model provides flexible occupancy terms designed to support independent creative entrepreneurs. Their project built ~180 creative studios with 75% occupancy to date.
Loan Amount
$2,000,000
Property Specs
34,920 square feet
Address
1975 Long Beach Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90806 (Supervisorial District 4)
Development Type
Rehabilitation
Partners
Lockout Music Studios & Creative Office and Long Beach Blues Society
Pacoima Beautiful
About
Pacoima Beautiful acquired a property which will be leased out to a local small business tenant, an expansion of their previous work supporting small business recovery and growth. Pacoima Beautiful is a grassroots environmental social justice organization and creating a new hub for local entrepreneurship and innovation marks a significant milestone in creating a safer, cleaner community where children, their families, and neighbors can thrive.
Loan Amount
$1,285,694
Property Specs
1,249 square feet
Address
8809 Sunland Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 91352 (Supervisorial District 5)
Development Type
Permanent
Borrower
Pacoima Beautiful
Strength Based Community Change
About
Strength Based Community Change (SBCC) acquired an abandoned feed store that will be transformed into a mercado-style marketplace with boutique booth spaces available for small business tenants. The development will provide an Entrepreneur Support Office equipped with built-in technology and resources to assist small businesses with business development needs, including a reservable “maker space” where entrepreneurs can create, print, and develop marketing materials to grow and sustain their businesses.
Loan Amount
$605,000
Property Specs
2,989 square feet
Address
40038 170th St. Lake Los Angeles, CA 93591 (Supervisorial District 5)
Development Type
Rehabilitation
Partners
Strength Based Community Change (SBCC)