(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC), the state of New Jersey’s largest community development financial institution (CDFI), recently announced it received a $4.935 million Capital Magnet Fund award from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund. This investment, the Capital Magnet Fund’s largest award round to date, is part of a larger $336.4 million round of funding aimed to support affordable housing initiatives around the country. 

“This year we have experienced a severely tumultuous housing market, and we’ve seen firsthand the importance of having accessible, affordable housing in our most underserved neighborhoods,” said Bernel Hall, President and CEO of New Jersey Community Capital. “We’re honored to receive this funding and to be recognized as a leading CDFI that actively invests in affordable housing and fosters equitable and enriched communities for residents who need it most.”

NJCC intends to utilize this award as loan capital for affordable housing projects, enabling lower interest loans. NJCC’s Capital Magnet Fund application presented a pipeline of 420 affordable units (all less than 80% AMI, and some at 30% AMI or less) where the $4.935 million of Capital Magnet Fund capital will be leveraged to support more than $55 million in total development costs. 

The Capital Magnet Fund awarded a total of $336.4 million to 59 organizations across the country to support the preservation and development of affordable housing and community facilities for low-income communities, marking FY 2021 as its largest award round ever. Awardees will utilize financial tools, such as loan funds, risk-sharing loans and loan guarantees, to create eligible affordable housing projects within five years with aggregate costs that are at least 10 times the size of the award amount.

New Jersey is among 49 states and U.S. territories where the selected organizations plan to develop more than 41,100 affordable housing units, including more than 38,700 rental units and more than 2,400 homeownership units.

New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) is a nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides an innovative toolkit of financial products, programs and services to advance equity and opportunity in underserved communities. NJCC supports the preservation and development of affordable housing and sustainable community development ventures that increase jobs, improve education and strengthen neighborhoods to ensure that communities can thrive.