The new Downtown Dayton Investment Fund 2, which already has raised nearly half of its $5 million goal, will offer loans to private businesses and nonprofit organizations to assist with real estate-related capital needs, said Daniel Kane Jr., senior vice president of development with CityWide Development Corp.
“We are hopeful that this fund will complement the original fund and even allow for expanded interest in the communities close to downtown,” Kane said. “While it is important that the prospective borrower have a primary funding source of funding for their project, this fund will provide flexible dollars that will fill gaps in the capital stack.”
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
CityWide officially announced the creation of the Downtown Dayton Investment Fund in fall of 2017.
The fund still exists and remains active, focusing on office-related lending needs in the greater downtown Dayton area, Kane said.
The fund has made five loans for local projects representing about $125 million in new investment and that are expected to create about 650 jobs, Kane said. The fund is a private lender and does not release the names of borrowers and projects, he said.
The Dayton Region New Market Fund LLC, an affiliate of CityWide, is the fund manager for the original and the new fund.
Investors in DDIF2 believe it is important to make a flexible funding source available to office building owners and developers in the greater downtown Dayton area, as well as in surrounding low- to moderate-income areas, Kane said.
The fund will be able to help surrounding working-class neighborhoods and areas near downtown that the city of Dayton has targeted for redevelopment, officials said.
CityWide says the new fund will support catalytic projects by offering expanded financial tools, such as debt loan products and tenant improvement assistance.
“Frequently, costs related to tenant improvement needs or junior subordinated lending structures are either difficult to fund by a traditional lender or not desirable for a traditional lender to be in,” Kane said. “This fund can be used for those gaps.”
Multiple groups already have contributed to the fund including CareSource, Kettering Health Network, Wright-Patt Credit Union, Day Air Credit Union, Minster Bank, First Financial Bank and WesBanco Bank Community Development Corporation, according to CityWide.
Investors who have contributed to the investment funds are supporting urban projects that help the entire city and region, according to CityWide.
“This fund represents another great avenue to support the exciting economic development happening in and around the greater downtown Dayton area,” Michael Mewhirter, chief financial officer and senior VP of Kettering Health Network.
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