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

Bread for the City
A City First NMTC loan of $6.4 million provided financing for renovation and expansion of facilities for Bread for the City, a long-standing community service organization that provides medical, dental and mental health services; counseling; food services; and legal assistance to homeless and low-income families/individuals in DC. The resulting improvements more than doubled the size of the existing Bread for the City facility on 7th Street in the Shaw community.

Capital Area Food Bank
City First provided a loan of $20 million to Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB), the largest nonprofit hunger and nutrition education resource in the nation’s capital. The resulting new 120,000 square-foot facility featured modern storage, preparation and distribution space, and enabled CAFB to double its service and distribution capacity to dozens of smaller food pantries in the region

Mary’s Center
A City First NMTC loan of $20 million financed the build-out of a new facility of 28,000 square feet on Georgia Avenue in the Petworth community, and the complete gut renovation of a long standing facility in Adams Morgan on Ontario Road. Mary’s Center provides a broad range of social services, focusing on primary medical and dental care for low-income communities of DC.

THEARC
City First’s $9.4 million NMTC allocation provided below-market rate loans and $2 million in equity for construction of the Town Hall, Education, Arts, and Recreation Campus (THEARC) located in DC’s Congress Heights. Built by William C. Smith Co, THEARC houses 110,000 square feet of space for a middle school, music and dance practice rooms, and a health clinic for an economically depressed area that for many decades lacked community facilities or retail space.