GROWTH by NCRC, City of Birmingham and NCRC Celebrate Amendments to Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) at Oak Hill Press Conference

October 27, 2023
By Mary-Houston Russell
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[BIRMINGHAM, AL] ­­­— GROWTH by NCRC, in partnership with the City of Birmingham, and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), will host a press conference on Monday, October 30, 2023, at 10 a.m. in the Oak Hill community, on the corner of Avenue K and 51st St. Ensley. The event is aimed at discussing the newly announced amendments to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a historic piece of legislation that has been pivotal in advancing financial inclusion and community development for over four decades.

Scheduled speakers for the event include:

  • Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin
  • Birmingham Business Resource Center Executive Director and Current NCRC Board Chairman Bob Dickerson
  • GROWTH by NCRC Managing Director Ed Gorman

The Community Reinvestment Act, initially signed into law in 1977, stands as a federal mandate to encourage financial institutions to meet the credit needs of all borrowers, with a particular emphasis on serving low-to-moderate income communities. CRA offers a framework for collaborative efforts between depository institutions and community organizations to enhance the availability of credit and other banking services in underserved neighborhoods, thus promoting economic empowerment for low- and moderate-income individuals.

The amendments to the CRA regulations by the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) signify a substantial step forward in modernizing banking practices and furthering community engagement, in line with the evolving financial landscape.

“Updating the CRA has been long overdue as banks and banking has changed significantly over the past quarter century,” said Dickerson. “CRA compliance should produce tangible and visible results which is what new homes in low- and moderate-income Birmingham communities like Oak Hill, Woodlawn and Pratt City represent.”

The partnership between GROWTH by NCRC and the City of Birmingham exemplifies the spirit of CRA. A significant project within this partnership is Oak Hill, located in the historic Belview Heights/Ensley community. GROWTH is building, in Oak Hill, 27 new, single-family homes, 11 of which are covenanted as affordable for owners making 80% of area median income or below. Oak Hill is part of a $25 million development agreement demonstrating a commitment to affordable homeownership. The project offers convenient access to transportation, healthcare, parks, shopping, and Miles College. The community broke ground in 2021, and the first homeowners began moving in during 2022. The second phase of the project is currently underway.

“When the Mayor reached out to us in 2021, he offered to spearhead the kind of partnership that CRA was enacted to foster and that NCRC’s flagship homeownership fund, a CRA-driven impact investment fund, was designed for,” said Gorman. “Two years later, we are well on our way to investing up to $95 million here, well beyond the agreement we signed with the City in 2021. None of this happens without the capital of partners like those here today and those national investors who allowed us to invest beyond CRA’s formerly restricted geographic scope. Last week’s expansion of CRA now permits investment opportunities much more broadly and will spawn partnerships like the one in Birmingham we’ve had the privilege of helping to grow.”

In addition to Oak Hill, GROWTH by NCRC is actively engaged in building and renovating homes in ShadowBrook and Woodlawn. ShadowBrook, situated in Birmingham’s North Pratt neighborhood, is a venture to build up to 53 single-family homes as part of the city’s efforts to revitalize an area devastated by a tornado during the 2011 Super Outbreak. The Woodlawn project aims to bring 16 homes to the historic Woodlawn neighborhood, contributing to the larger mission of fostering affordable homeownership opportunities in Birmingham. GROWTH is also slated to build 60 homes in Birmingham’s newly designated HUD Choice Neighborhood of Smithfield.

For further information, inquiries, or interview requests, please contact Lynda Belcher, GROWTH by NCRC at 850-570-8175 or lbelcher@growthbyncrc.com.

 

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About GROWTH by NCRC

GROWTH by NCRC believes that no matter where someone starts in life, or the neighborhood they live in, every family deserves the opportunity to own a home, build wealth, and enjoy the American Dream. The organization’s mission is to make homeownership possible for more people. GROWTH is an initiative of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and is fueled by the NCRC Housing Rehab Fund, a private equity real estate fund focused on rehabbing (and building new construction) single-family houses to provide affordable homeownership opportunities in low- and moderate-income communities or for low- and moderate-income people. For more information about GROWTH by NCRC, visit www.growthbyncrc.com.