Corporate Donors Pitch In for Low-Income Housing

Mayor Tom Bradley joined a consortium of companies Tuesday in announcing the creation of a special real estate investment fund aimed at financing housing projects for low-income individuals and families in Los Angeles and other California cities.

The four California-based companies agreed to donate $1 million each to help build or renovate 377 units in various housing projects, according to officials of the National Equity Fund.

The corporate donors will benefit by receiving substantial tax credits under the 1986 Tax Reform Act.

Bradley said the city’s Community Development Department and Community Redevelopment Agency have also agreed to add a combined $5.4 million to the company donations. That pooled money will be used to raise additional dollars for programs to house the poor.

“This project makes good business sense,” said Bradley, who also praised the corporate donors at a Los Angeles news conference.

Atlantic Richfield Co., First Interstate Bank of California, Great Western Financial Corp. and Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Co. are limited partners in the fund, which was created by the nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corp. to promote neighborhood revitalization projects across the nation.

In a prepared statement, Arco President Robert B. Wycoff and the chairmen of the other three investing companies said the fund “represents a businesslike way to meet a critical nationwide need for quality affordable housing for low-income individuals and families.”

The New York-based Local Initiatives Support Corp. hopes to raise $50 million nationwide over the next three years. And Mayor Bradley said the local fund is only the first step toward raising another $20 million next year for additional low-income housing projects in Los Angeles.

The news conference was held at a vacant lot in the city’s Pico Boulevard-Union Avenue neighborhood, where a four-unit, two-story apartment building and children’s play area are planned. The 377 units of low-income housing throughout the state will include 250 in the city of Los Angeles, according to officials with the fund.

The special fund will combine investment capital from the corporate partners with loans from private and public lenders to ensure that rents for new or renovated housing projects are affordable for low-income tenants.