Double Bottom Line

By Alan Mallach

A Tacoma, Washington CDC is putting at least $250,000 into developing a “double bottom line” real estate fund that will invest in struggling neighborhoods throughout the Seattle/Tacoma region. These funds have become more common in recent years but are usually spearheaded by business or government groups, not nonprofits. The director of the Martin Luther King Housing Development Association says it’s a big risk for his agency, but could pay off handsomely. The CDC and its consultants hope to raise $60 to $90 million for the fund and leverage at least three times that amount. (Tacoma News-Tribune, 6/20)

Alan Mallach, senior fellow of the National Housing Institute, is the author of many works on housing and planning, including Bringing Buildings Back and Building a Better Urban Future: New Directions for Housing Policies in Weak Market Cities. He served as director of housing and economic development for Trenton, N.J. from 1990 to 1999.

Published by the National Housing Institute