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Community Development Financing

BlueHub Loan Fund: Providing capital to high-impact community development projects

A second-generation Cape Verdean grocery store owner develops plans to expand his family grocery store business in Brockton, Massachusetts, a city ready for investments to create new economic opportunities. He partners with the community health center next door to give residents easier access to affordable and fresh food, and expanded healthcare services. He has the vision and has done the hard work. Now he needs the capital.

Lack of access—to affordable housing, quality healthcare and education, good jobs and even healthy food—is a pervasive problem in communities across the US. BlueHub Loan Fund backs solutions to address these needs.

In Brockton, we worked with other nonprofits, local government and real estate developers to invest in the city’s downtown, providing $12 million in community development financing. The funds paved the way not only for Vicente’s Tropical Market but 210 units of affordable housing, 60,000 square feet of commercial space and 100 jobs.

This is just one example of how BlueHub Loan Fund works with local partners to deliver vital elements for healthy communities.

Owners of Vicente's Tropical Market in their store
Owners of Vicente's Tropical Market in Brockton, MA
Photo by Marilyn Humphries

What We Do

We believe everyone has a right to live in a safe and economically vibrant neighborhood with affordable housing, good jobs and high-quality schools and healthcare services. BlueHub Loan Fund helps connect low-income communities, many of them communities of color, with flexible financing to generate equitable and inclusive economic opportunity. We finance a wide range of real estate–related projects, including:

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BlueHub Loan Fund Impact

$50k- $20M

Range of loan amount

33

Average number of loans closed annually over the past 5 years

A+

Standard & Poors Global Rating

52%

Of Loan Fund projects are led by people of color*

96%

Of lending serves low-income communities*

55%

Of Loan Fund projects are led by women or nonbinary individuals*

*In 2023

How We Work

BlueHub Loan Fund works at the intersection of opportunity and mission—where our financing can bolster a project that meets the needs identified by the low-income community it serves. We work with partners on the ground to get the projects with powerful and positive benefits off the ground.

Before providing financing, we review the feasibility and impact of each project by asking:

  • Who will the project benefit?
  • Does the project align with the needs of the community?
  • Will it inspire future investment that benefits longtime residents?
  • Is the positive impact significant and enduring?
  • Is debt the right tool and is repayment highly likely?

Depending on the unique needs of each borrower and project, we offer a range of customized community development loan products, including:

  • Predevelopment
  • Acquisition
  • Construction
  • Mini-permanent/permanent
  • Bridge
  • Leveraged debt lending in New Markets Tax Credit transactions
  • State tax credit and grant intermediary loans

Where We Lend

BlueHub Loan Fund is a national lender with investments in 23 states and Washington, DC. In addition to our core markets in New England, the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic states, we work in strategic locations across the country where partners are seeking additional mission-driven capital.

BlueHub Loan Fund has made investments in: AL, CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, LA, MA, MD, ME, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA and Washington DC.

 

What Makes Us Different

As a financing partner, BlueHub Loan Fund brings a unique breadth and depth of expertise. Thanks to the financial strength of BlueHub Capital, we’ve been self-sufficient for over two decades. That means we have the latitude to lend at the size, scale and complexity needed by our partners. It means we’re flexible and willing to think outside the box to make the financing work. It also means we have the liberty to invest in the technology and staff we need to be effective.

Our mission allows us to finance a broad range of projects too, from permanent supportive housing in communities with a high rate of unhoused individuals to start-up charter schools serving over-age and under-credited high school students and those at risk of dropping out before graduation.

“BlueHub always takes the time to understand what our goals are, what our business is all about. I don’t know other lenders who would spend the amount of time BlueHub has spent in working through this project with us.”

Emily Stewart Executive Director of Casa Esperanza

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