JBG Smith, Federal City Council Launch Workforce Housing Initiative
Capital from a fund called the Impact Pool will be used to bridge the gap between traditional mortgage financing and charitable contributions with mezzanine investments.
CHEVY CHASE, MD–JBG Smith and the non-profit Federal City Council have launched an affordable housing program called Washington Housing Initiative with the goal of preserving or building between 2,000 and 3,000 units of workforce housing in the Washington DC region over the next ten years.
The initiative plans to recruit capital from private and philanthropic sources while tapping into JBG Smith’s scale in the region. Capital from a fund called the Impact Pool will be used to bridge the gap between traditional mortgage financing and charitable contributions with mezzanine investments.
The workforce housing will be acquired or developed and managed by a new non-profit entity called the Washington Housing Conservancy. The housing will be located in so-called high-impact locations, which the initiative defines as rapidly growing areas that are still affordable but are expected to become less so over the next five to ten years.
“By helping preserve housing affordability in rapidly changing communities, we hope to allow residents to benefit from neighborhood improvements instead of being displaced by them”, said Tony Williams, CEO of the Federal City Council.