A Vision for the Arts and Neighborhood Revitalization

In the newly published Creativity and Neighborhood Development: Strategies for Community Investment, TRF's Jeremy Nowak lays out steps for building an integrative vision of creativity and neighborhood revitalization. With insight from TRF's own lending portfolio, the publication demonstrates how the intrinsic value of arts and culture can support the more comprehensive architecture of community. The publication and its summary, The Power of Place-Making, are the result of TRF's collaboration with the Social Impact of the Arts Project of the University of Pennsylvania (SIAP), which examined the roles creative activity can play in neighborhood revitalization. The Rockefeller Foundation facilitated the collaboration as part of its commitment to urban development and community cultural vitality. The project also resulted in several briefs on the subject. Learn more...
Capital Under Management Surges Over $435 Million

The last quarter saw a range of successful capital activity at TRF, including $10 million in additional credit from Fannie Mae for our housing lending program. This increased credit grows out of TRF's success in deploying our initial $15 million credit facility from Fannie Mae which was initiated two years ago. The Fannie Mae credit facility is especially significant to TRF as it offers capital whose pricing is directly indexed to Fannie Mae's GSE credit rating. TRF closed the quarter with other new major investments in its loan fund from Merrill Lynch, HSBC, Citi, Calvert Foundation and Monarch Community Fund, with additional investments in TRF Development Partners, TRF's residential real estate development affiliate. 

Housing Financing Tops $345 million

TRF's housing financing ended the quarter with more than $27 million in new financing in the last six months of 2007. Among the projects financed was a $10 million construction loan to finance 72 new for-sale units on the former Freedom/Claremont public housing site in Baltimore. These units are part of a mixed-income, master planned redevelopment on a 55-acre site, located just south of the Belair-Edison neighborhood. Known as Orchard Ridge, the project will ultimately result in the development of more than 400 units, both rental and homeownership. In addition to our loan, this phase of the project received $2.2 million in subsidy from the City of Baltimore and the Housing Authority of the City of Baltimore. The project is being developed by Pennrose Development and Doracon Development. Wilmington Trust is a co-lender with TRF on this project.

 

Reinventing Older Communities Conference

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is hosting its third biennial conference on reinventing older communities on March 26 to 28, 2008. TRF co-sponsors the conference which attracts policymakers, community developers, lenders, funders, planners, and government representatives who want to learn from leading practitioners and researchers around the country. Learn more...
 

TRF Presents Findings on Foreclosures in Maryland

As part of Maryland advocates’ aggressive efforts to combat foreclosures, the Baltimore Homeownership Preservation Coalition, the Coalition for Homeownership Preservation in Prince George's County, and the Maryland Housing Counselors Network invited TRF to present findings from its statewide analysis to a crowd of 200 housing counselors, realtors, bankers, government officials, and advocates.  Among TRF's findings, the typical neighborhood in the City of Baltimore has approximately 1 in 5 of its subprime borrowers delinquent; five times worse than its prime borrowers, with a very similar situation in Prince George’s County.  Statewide, the percentage is a lower 1 in 8 for subprime borrowers, more than four times worse than for all prime borrowers.  Statewide, TRF also found foreclosure filings generally clustered in the lower, but not the lowest, income or home price areas and in areas that have higher percentages minority homeowners. The analysis was funded by the Annie E. Casey and Goldseker Foundations and Associated Black Charities. View TRF's presentation...
TRF Wins Approval for its Stony Creek Redevelopment Plan for Norristown

The Norristown City Council recently approved TRF's recommendations for the redevelopment of Norristown's Stony Creek project area that will result in a new transit-oriented, mixed-use development. Last year, the Montgomery County Planning Commission and Norristown Municipality invited TRF to review potential redevelopment projects for Norristown. TRF refocused the Stony Creek redevelopment plan to better leverage Norristown's public transit assets. TRF presented its recommendations to Norristown's City Council in December. The City has secured a developer and will begin implementation early this year. This is the first of several plans TRF is working on for Norristown. Learn more about TRF's planning services...

Map of residential median sale price for Norristown and its surrounding areas, with transit stops. Click to enlarge.

Jeremy Nowak Appointed to Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Board

This month, TRF's CEO and President, Jeremy Nowak began a three-year term on the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Mr. Nowak and two other new members joined the nine-member board. In addition to overseeing Bank operations, the Board works with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserves to set the discount rates Reserve Banks charge on loans to depository institutions and to elect Reserve Bank presidents.
TRF Helps Launch New Professional Development Institute

TRF is working with the Pennsylvania Planning Association's Southeast Chapter to launch the Professional Development Institute (PDI).PDI's first session on February 22, 2008, will feature a mixed-use project currently being implemented by Widener University and Teres Holdings in Chester City, PA. PDI will provide urban planners with practical insight into how planning can lead to successful development projects, while giving them the opportunity to gain credits towards their certification maintenance. PDI will have four sessions each year featuring selected case studies presented by professionals involved in the projects. Other PDI sponsors include the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the University of Pennsylvania and the William Penn Foundation. For more information or to register, please contact Graciela Cavicchia at cavicchiag@trfund.com.

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