Notable City First NMTC Projects

COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Tivoli Square
A $14.4 million financing to develop the first large-scale commercial development in Columbia Heights since the corridor was decimated in the civil unrest of the 1960s. The success of that project, which included both local businesses and major retailers such as Giant Foods, led to the development of DC USA – the vertical mall that is home to Target, Best Buy and Marshalls. City First’s early investments galvanized a renaissance in retail and housing development in one of DC’s most dynamic neighborhoods.  

Atlas Performing Arts Center
City First combined $20 million of NMTC funds with Historic Tax Credits to provide construction and mini-permanent financing for the rehabilitation of Washington’s historic Atlas Theater. The Atlas Performing Arts Center provides two 250-seat theaters, three dance studios, and office space for local performing arts groups on H Street, one of the urban neighborhoods most devastated by the 1968 riots.
 

EDUCATION

Charter School Development Corporation
Through the 2005 receipt and management of a $40 million allocation, five charter schools were financed, including the Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Congress Heights. 

E. L. Haynes Public Charter School
City First provided a $21 million allocation for the construction and permanent financing of the E. L. Haynes Public Charter School offering programs from pre-K to 5 in the Petworth neighborhood of NW Washington. The 46,000 square foot building serves almost 500 children, nearly all from low-income families. The long-term financing substantially reduces operating costs and provides permanent equity after 30 years.  

KIPP DC/Shaw Campus
City First originated a $24 million loan to redevelop the Shaw campus of KIPP DC, including build-out of a new 15,000 square foot facility for 1,000 students, 80 percent of whom qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. 

Thurgood Marshall Academy (TMA) Public Charter School:
City First arranged $14 million in NMTC funding which, when combined with DC government bonds, financed the acquisition and renovation of a charter school building for Thurgood Marshall Academy in southeast Washington. TMA serves 320 high school students, offering a law-related college preparatory curriculum in a highly distressed community. City First was a minority partner in this project with the Charter School Development Corporation.
 

SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICES