Client: New Jersey Community Capital

Challenge:

New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) primarily funds initiatives that cannot obtain financing from conventional markets. Charter schools often fall into this category. It is difficult for these schools to secure attractive loans for facilities with long terms and low interest rates because their charters only last for a limited number of years. In addition, charter schools in New Jersey are unable to access referendum dollars.

New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) was determined to help a school secure a more stable location, but was unable to provide the school with a large enough loan to purchase the rehabilitated warehouse it had selected for its new site.

Solution:

Through CRF’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Loan program, we provided the school a $1.4 million loan with a low interest rate and 25-year term. The new loan, gave the charter school a lower debt payment, which saves approximately $25,000 annually, with a total savings of approximately $174,000 over the seven-year NMTC compliance period. This reduced payment also is lower than the monthly rent the school was paying at its previous location.

Community Impact:

The school now has a more modern educational facility with the capacity to add 100 more students, serving up to 250 children. Since partnering with NJCC, CRF has provided 14 loans (including the charter school loan) and more than $10,145,018 to struggling communities.

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