Ohio Capital Finance Corporation

Expansion, growth, and record-setting made for a meaningful 20th anniversary

The need for affordable housing continues at a rapid pace. While the effects of the pandemic remain, construction costs and interest rates continue to rise, and labor and materials continue to be difficult to procure.

To assist in addressing these issues, OCFC’s lending platform expanded to provide affordable housing developers with nontraditional and flexible products, necessary to enable new and preserve existing affordable housing offerings.

To meet the demand for OCFC’s expanded products and services, OCFC increased staff capacity and welcomed three new members to the team. Now with a team of eight professionals, OCFC continues its path of being a best-in-class service and technical assistance provider to the affordable housing development community.

In 2022, OCFC lent over $146 million in capital to create and preserve 2,277 units of affordable housing located in 20 communities. Notable activities for OCFC included:

– A record level of lending volume, representing a 78% increase from 2021.

– Being awarded $12,000,000 from the CDFI Fund’s Capital Magnet Fund Program.

– The conclusion of the 614 for Linden Initiative, and the subsequent creation of the One Linden Collaborative.

– Creating the first loan to preserve market rate units as naturally occurring affordable housing, or “NOAH”, in partnership with the newly formed Columbus Housing Enterprise.

 

Record Year of Lending Volume

OCFC had a record year of lending volume, closing over $146 million in loans in 2022. Acquisition loans were a primary driver of the increase, with the amount closed 10 times that of 2021. OCFC also tripled its Capital Magnet Fund lending to $64 million, reflecting its continued success with the grant program.

While the affordable housing industry continued to navigate a challenging financial landscape, OCFC stepped up to fill the gap with flexible financing to ensure that critical projects could come to fruition.

 

Community Development Financial Institution Funding Awards

Capital Magnet Fund Award – $12,000,000
OCFC received its sixth Capital Magnet Fund award from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). OCFC was one of eight organizations nationwide to receive the maximum award of $12,000,000. The award will be leveraged with private capital and revolved throughout the five-year grant period – creating or preserving at least 1,800 affordable housing units.

Rapid deployment of 2021 Awards
Following on the quick deployment of its 2021 Rapid Response Program Award, OCFC also fully expended its 2021 Financial Assistance Award of $625,000, and surpassed its Year-2 benchmark for closed financial products before the end of Year-1. OCFC continues to meet and exceed its performance metrics for each of its CDFI Fund grant awards, which now total 20 since 2004.


614 for Linden Initiative

With the support of a PRO Neighborhoods grant from JPMorgan Chase, OCFC worked with partners to form the 614 for Linden to invest in and attract additional investments to the Linden neighborhood in Columbus. OCFC created nearly $20 million of loan capital for affordable housing and supported the development of three multifamily developments as well as single-family homes and duplexes by the grant’s end in December. This funding represents over $79.8 million in total investment in Linden which helped create and preserve 444 affordable housing units.

Members of the 614 for Linden will merge into the One Linden Collaborative, a larger community wide consortium, that grew concurrent to the 614 for Linden’s development. For additional information about the work and outcomes of the 614 for Linden, please review our white paper.


Copperleaf Apartments

OCFC provided a $7.3M acquisition loan for Copperleaf Apartments, which enabled the preservation of 108 market rate units in Columbus as naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). OCFC worked closely with the Weiler and Kelley families, Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, and Columbus Housing Enterprise (CHE) on this effort. CHE is a newly formed not for profit corporation, with the mission of preserving the availability of housing that occurs naturally in the market, and to fill gaps for households that may have limited resources. These limited resources may include incomes that are not low enough to qualify for subsidized housing, or those who are not able to obtain subsidized options due to the demand for such units. Copperleaf Apartments is CHE’s first undertaking.

Copperleaf Apartments

 

 

OCFC is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Entity, as certified by the United States Department of the Treasury.

 

Member of:

FHLB

Ohio Loans by County

OCFC has provided loans in 84% of Ohio’s counties.

OCFC’s mission of “providing a flexible source of capital to increase and improve the supply of affordable rental housing across Ohio,” has remained steadfast while expanding to meet market needs.


OCFC Partners

OCFC is pleased to recognize the following lenders and investors that allow OCFC to provide the creative financing tools necessary to sustain and produce affordable housing and expand its community development impact.

Accomplishments 2002-2022

Units financed (32% of which were preservation)

Loans closed

Total loan production

Ohio counties (84% of Ohio counties) in which loans have been made

2021 Loan Production Distribution

Number of Loans

Hover over the pie chart for more details about each type of loan.

1 Loans
8 Loans
22 Loans
11 Loans

Predevelopment

Acquisition

Equity Bridge/Construction

CMF

Amount of Loans

Hover over the pie chart for more details about each type of loan.

$1,000,000
$14,486,154
$66,339,279
$64,250,000

Predevelopment

Acquisition

Equity Bridge/Construction

CMF