New Markets Tax Credits

Belle Glade Teen Center

April 30, 2019 by

The first Boys Club of Palm Beach County opened in West Palm Beach in 1971 providing young males a wholesome alternative to the streets. Today, BGCPBC is the largest youth development organization in the county and offers a robust portfolio of high-yield programs for $30 per child annually—or no cost; no one is turned away due to inability to pay.

BGCPBC members predominantly attend poor performing schools in a 66% -minority school district where 56% of students are eligible for the federal lunch program. Black students in particular have the lowest graduation rates state and county wide. For young low income Black males, finding meaningful employment is also extremely difficult. This troubling trend starts early with poor academic performance, particularly from ages 13 to 18; research indicates that children who live in poverty face enormous challenges to succeed in school.

Interventions are needed to halt the progression toward dropping out of school and being unemployed or under-employed, especially at the Belle Glade Teen Center where 70% of members’ families earn less than $19,000 annually; 77% of members reside in a single-parent family or other non-traditional households; and 90% of members are Black; 5% are bi/multiracial; 4% are Hispanic and 1% are White.

BGCPBC is committed to help its current 13-18-year-old members and alumni who have dropped out of post-secondary education and are struggling with joblessness and a lack of direction in their adult lives. The resultant Teen Employability Program (TEP), combining foundational education, job readiness training, structured employment in the Clubs, and career exploration, dramatically increased BGCPBC’s teen membership base by 176%–from 500 teens in 2013 to 1,381 today. Most importantly, the program has motivated academic success. In 2017, 99% of BGCPBC high school seniors graduated on time, and 75% are now entering into post-secondary educational programs (certifications, vocational, associates or four-year college tracts).

BGCPBC maintains six elementary school-based sites in the Glades allowing members to transition seamlessly to the Teen Center. This cohesion introduces younger members to programs and staff long before they are old enough to attend the Teen Center. It’s often heard that Teen Center members are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to join the Teen Center dance troupe, obtain coveted Junior Staff positions, and attend the College Tour—for nearly all, their first time on a college campus.

Unfortunately, the Teen Center in Belle Glade is turning away needy youth every day due to lack of the facilities and staff to accommodate them. So, instead of enjoying the nurturing environment and quality programs the Club has to offer, teens are going home to empty houses or worse, turning to negative influences of life on the streets.

In June of 2018, B&GC of Palm Beach County hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the new teen center. Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with Federal NMTC allocation. In April of 2019, Crescent and the B&GC of Palm Beach County closed on $8.4M of Federal NMTCs provided by Florida Community Loan Fund, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by US Bank.

Utilizing land donated by the County, $5.7M in capital campaign donations, and an estimated $1.3M in NMTC net benefit, B&GC of Palm Beach County began constructing the new 14,000 sf Smith & Moore Family Teen Center. The new Center will be nearly twice the size of the current Center, allowing a 300% increase in members — from 300-900 teens from the tri-city Glades area — with average daily attendance projected to increase from 125-150 to 300 – 350 post completion.

Dedicated workspaces and youth development professionals will provide the opportunity for Career Readiness programs including:
• Career Launch programs to introduce young people to the world of employment preparation, financial literacy, and internship opportunities.
• Culinary Arts program in a new teaching kitchen complimented with a Horticultural program so that students can learn gardening to table techniques.
• Performing & Visual Arts programs in areas of digital movie making, music composition and performance, and photography.
• STEM programs empowering youth to create new solutions to real-world challenges. From curriculum in App intermediate-level coding to hands on science and engineering activities.

Lincoln Children’s Zoo

April 23, 2019 by

In 1959, Arnott Folsom had a vision to create a family destination where thousands of children and adults could interact with nature. With a donation from himself and his wife as well as the help from community leaders, Lincoln Children’s Zoo was founded. Opened in the summer of 1965, the Zoo became a place where children could get up-close to animals and surround themselves in scenic gardens.

That strong support for the Zoo from the community continues to this day, and for a variety of reasons. The Zoo donates over $250,000 of tickets, train rides and memberships each year to low income families in Lincoln. The Zoo has over 100 educational programs annually, serving over 2,000 children. The Zoo is home to Lincoln’s largest family holiday events, and is home to Nebraska’s only zoo event for visually impaired children. The Zoo is also home to Zoofari with Larry the Cable Guy, and gives free videos for children in hospitals across North America, which are seen by over 100,000 children. The Zoo also provides educational opportunities for teenagers through adventure trips to Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Florida.

Lincoln Children’s Zoo is taking the first step toward the largest expansion in its history, essentially doubling the size of the Zoo, while staying true to Mr. Folsom’s vision and dream. The expansion will create more interaction with animals than ever before. The giraffe experience is at the center of the expanded Zoo and will be the third in the nation to have both an indoor and outdoor viewing deck built specifically for year-round giraffe feeding. A terraced amphitheater will be located next to the habitat where families can enjoy a snack while watching the giraffes. The tiger habitat features several viewing and encounter points for guests and an expansive area of rockwork with a water feature for the tigers to roam and play. In one of the viewing areas, children can sit in the driver’s seat of a safari vehicle next to a tiger. The vehicle is divided in half by a large piece of glass and provides space for a tiger and guest to sit side by side. Just as important, the expansion will allow the Zoo to open year-round, as a number of the expansion efforts are geared to the inside, during the cold winter months.

Lincoln Children’s Zoo is also home to Lincoln Public School Science Focus Program – Zoo School students focus on science and nature in a non-traditional setting. The School has an ongoing partnership with Lincoln Public Schools to provide enhanced classroom and learning spaces, and the expansion will include the new Education and Conservation Center including laboratories, for students with an interest in science and nature, to replace the temporary classrooms. Designed for Grades 9-12, students attend 1st and 2nd periods at their “home” high school, and the rest of the day at “Zoo School” on site. Graduates of the Science Focus Program have gone on to successful careers as scientists, medical professionals, physicists, and more.

In January of 2019, the Zoo hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the expansion. With the $20M+ capital campaign winding down, Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with Nebraska State NMTC allocation. In April of 2019, Crescent and the Lincoln Children’s Zoo closed on $10.0M of Nebraska State NMTCs provided by Petros-Pacesetter, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by Petros-Pacesetter.

The NMTC successfully covered the financing gap, and the newly-completed Lincoln Children’s Zoo recently opened to the public, creating 12 new full-time and 15 new part-time jobs.

Healy Murphy Child Development Center

December 6, 2018 by

Healy-Murphy Center (HMC) has been serving the educational and social needs of San Antonio’s underserved populations for over 125 years. Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy and the Sisters of the Holy Spirit opened what was then known as St. Peter Claver Academy in 1888, and was the first Catholic school and church for African-Americans in the state of Texas. In 1970, the Sisters of the Holy Spirit revised Healy-Murphy’s mission to focus on educating youth in crisis who were not being served by traditional school and community organizations. Today, Healy-Murphy continues to educate young people living in dire circumstances. Many have been the victims of violence and abuse; most are caught in a cycle of poverty and poor health. HMC helps students lift themselves out of generational poverty and low academic achievement through an accredited high school and GED diploma program, healthcare and wellness education, career and college readiness training, and on-campus childcare.

The Child Development Center is one of the many successful programs administered by Healy-Murphy Center. A longtime Texas Rising Star provider, a designation which recognizes centers that continually exceed basic childcare standards, the Healy-Murphy Child Development Center provides quality daycare and early childhood education to 200 low income children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. Approximately half of these infants and toddlers are the children of teen parents attending Healy-Murphy’s high school program, which provides the added benefit of allowing parents to complete their high school education, while giving their children a meaningful head start in their educational life. The remaining 50% are the children of low-income families who qualify for the City of San Antonio’s Child Care Services reimbursement program. 80% of all children come from households with incomes of less than $15,000. On average, 73% of children served are Hispanic, 21% are African-American, and 6% are Anglo. The infant and toddler program has three key components:

Early Childhood Education: The Child Development Center infant and toddler program utilizes the best-practices in early childhood education to promote sensory, motor, perceptual and language skills. Teachers and caregivers introduce these skills through materials and activities that are both child-centered and teacher-directed. By regularly observing each child’s development, teachers and caregivers plan interactions and lessons that build on children’s strengths and individual interests.

Parent Involvement and Support: Healy-Murphy values the active involvement of parents in the infant and toddler program, both through committee and classroom participation. Parent Days help the children to see their parents as important and concerned members of the center’s environment, while providing parents with opportunities to view the child with teachers and other children.

Health Services and Wellness Education: Understanding the importance of healthy physical development in the earliest years, Healy-Murphy provides free weekly well-checks for all infants and toddlers. Through a partnership with the University of Texas Health Science Center, a nurse practitioner examines each child who may be presenting signs of illness and provides consultations to their parents. Additionally, she provides regular, broad-ranging health assessments, screenings and preventive care for all infants and toddlers.

The existing Child Development Center is located at a high-traffic intersection across from the main campus and consists of buildings that are inadequate to safely meet the needs of educating and caring for nearly 200 infants and toddlers served annually. The three main CDC buildings include a retrofitted historic limestone rock home built ca. 1850, a cinderblock building built in 1987, and a two-room portable structure that is over 25 years old. Each building is in need of extensive infrastructure repairs.

In 2016, the Healy-Murphy Center engaged LPA Architects and Malitz Construction to provide an estimate for upgrading the current facilities and an estimate for building a new facility. Because the construction estimates came in at nearly $4 million, HMC decided that it would be in the best interest of its clients and their families to build a new facility, utilizing the best practices for early childhood education facility design, and safely located on Healy-Murphy Center’s main campus. The site for the new Child Development Center has already been purchased by the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, the founders of the school and the property owners for the entirety of the main school and daycare campuses. The Sisters of the Holy Spirit purchased the land with the intent of allowing Healy-Murphy Center to construct the Child Development Center on the site upon completion of the capital campaign.

In September of 2017, HMC hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the new Child Development Center. Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with Federal NMTC allocation. In December of 2018, Crescent and HMC closed on $6.0M of Federal NMTCs provided by Capital Impact Partners, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by Capital One Bank. The NMTC subsidy will allow HMC to complete the Child Development Center project and retain the existing 28 employees.

Trinity Basin Prep

November 15, 2018 by

4400 Panola Ave Fort Worth, TX 76103

Trinity Basin Preparatory (“TBP”) is a tuition-free open enrollment public charter school founded in 1998. Since opening its first Oak Cliff campus in 1999, TBP has expanded to provide a safe, disciplined learning environment for more than 3,150 students in grades Pre-K-3 through eight with five campuses in Oak Cliff and Fort Worth. The vision of Trinity Basin Preparatory is to provide an education in an environment specifically designed to meet the individual academic, physical, and emotional needs of its students.

TBP strives to provide a well-rounded and rigorous education to its students, focusing on the core academic areas of reading, writing, math, science and social studies. Expectations on TBP campuses are very high for students and faculty in order to foster an environment of achievement and success. TBP’s teachers understand the need to reach each individual student, regardless of any perceived learning barriers. At Trinity Basin Preparatory, the focus is on developing an individualized path to success, tailored to each individual child, and ensuring that every teacher, staff member, and administrator is dedicated to supporting the child’s progress.

The new TBP location will maintain its rigorous academic standards, as well as its various student/family support services. The school will offer the same free breakfast and reduced-price lunches ($0.40/lunch) that more than 90% of its existing 3,150 students take advantage of currently. The projected TBP enrollment will be comprised of 65% Hispanic and 32% African-American students, with approximately 80% of the students qualifying for free/reduced meal prices, according to Federal guidelines.

TBP participates in the Summer Feeding Program, whereby all of its campus sites, including the Panola site, serve meals to all needy children 18 years of age and under. This includes anyone under 18, not just TBP students and all meals are completely free to the children. Meals must meet meal pattern requirements and they are served to the children with adequate supervision.

Additionally, the Panola campus will be home to one of Travis Frederick’s Food Pantries. Travis, current center for the Dallas Cowboys, started a “Blocking Out Hunger” Foundation, which provides food to needy families. TBP has donated part of the Panola facility to serve as one of the pantries for the Foundation. The pantry is stocked up to once per week and the TBP staff helps ensure that the food is handed out to students and their families, ensuring that they have adequate nutrition over the weekends and holiday breaks.

In December of 2017, TBP hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the new headquarters. Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with Federal NMTC allocation. In November of 2018, Crescent and CPD closed on $7.0M of Federal NMTCs provided by Raza Development Fund and $1.5M of Federal NMTCs provided by Capital One Community Renewal Fund, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by Capital One Bank. The NMTC subsidy will give TBP the funds to complete phase 1 of its two phase campus plan, providing an estimated $1.6M in net subsidy that will allow the program to reach its capacity of 818 students and create 83 staff.

Community Partners of Dallas

October 29, 2018 by

Community Partners of Dallas (“CPD”) was established in 1989 by a committed group of Dallas County individuals. Today, the organization’s mission is to ensure safety, restore dignity and inspire hope for the abused and neglected children served by Dallas County Protective Services. Community Partners of Dallas’ programs have been replicated across the state, and exist in more than 155 cities in Texas.

Community Partners of Dallas served more than 20,000 children in 2016, through five unique programs:

• Rainbow Room – The Rainbow Room is an emergency resource center that provides critically-needed items for children such as clothing, shoes, beds, car seats, formula, diapers, cleaning supplies, hygiene items and birthday presents. The Rainbow Room has served more than 168,000 children since it opened in 1993.
• Kids in Crisis – Kids in Crisis provides emergency funds for transportation, housing, enrichment activities, clothing, therapy, and medical expenses for children in relative care or in their own homes. Kids in Crisis serves more than 4,500 of Dallas County’s abused and neglected children annually.
• Caseworker Appreciation – Caseworker Appreciation includes quarterly events to show appreciation and gratitude to the staff of Child Protective Services. Past events include catered lunches, cookouts, ice cream socials, catered breakfasts and cupcake distributions. Sponsored by Community Partners of Dallas board members, members of CPD’s women’s auxiliary and volunteers.
• The Heart Program – The Heart Program is an internationally-recognized program that provides therapeutic group treatment to child sexual-abuse victims and their non-offending family members. Victims of sexual abuse and their non-offending family members meet weekly for group therapy. Victims are encouraged to participate as long as the therapy is beneficial. Dinner is donated by groups, including Tolleson, Sammons, Love of Humanity, Hunt Oil, and National Charity League.
• Storyline (214) 446-2222 – Launched in 2006, Storyline is a phone line that children can call 24 hours a day to hear four different stories. More than 400 children call in per month to listen to a story. The stories change weekly, and are read by volunteers and local celebrities.

Among the 25,864 reports of child abuse and neglect in Dallas County last year, 6,242 cases were confirmed – up 38% from the prior year. Child Protective Services of the Department of Family and Protective Services investigates allegations and removes a child from their parent’s home if they determine the risk to their safety has reached a threatening level. Children entering the system of protective care often have only the clothes on their backs when removed from their homes. More than 79% of the children CPD serves live in families with annual incomes of less than $30,000. There are simply not enough resources between the state and these families to take care of the children’s needs.

Community Partners of Dallas had outgrown its space in the Meadows Foundation’s Wilson Historic District. Over the past 29 years, the number of children who are confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect in Dallas County has increased by 64% and the number of reports has grown 231% during the same period. Child Protective Services is downsizing its facilities and has transitioned their caseworkers to working as mobile employees.

CPD’s client base has grown in direct proportion to Child Protective Services’: in 1989, CPD served 3,500 children annually and today that number has grown to more than 20,000. In response both to the growing need for a physical space to support caseworkers and the ever-growing population of children in their care, CPD has developed a plan to construct a more child-friendly space that is large enough to house its operations into the future.

The new facility will provide extra space for CPD’s successful school supply, coat, and Easter drives, expand space for caseworkers, allow CPD to utilize 10,000+ square feet of Rainbow Room and Warehouse space, and provide offices for 2-3 partner agencies who will lease space from Community Partners of Dallas. The new 6,000 SF Night Response space will have a small break room, a play area, visit rooms and a nursery, showers and bath facilities, a TV gaming and lounge area for older kids, as well as a laundry and other services. Child Protective Services will be a tenant., with 24 employees housed on site for overnight, state holidays, and weekend work (4:00 pm until 8:00 am Monday-Friday and 24 hours on weekends and holidays).

The new facility on Elmbrook will also have approximately 10,000 square feet of space designated for other charitable agencies to lease at low market rates. This Collaborative Space will likely be leased to 2-3 non-profit partners, providing them with office space, a break room, and a conference room. CPD has had early discussions with groups such as Tex-Protects, Children’s Health, and others, and will turn its attention to finalizing these partnership arrangements once the facility is secured.

In June of 2018, CPD hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the new headquarters. Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with Federal NMTC allocation. In October of 2018, Crescent and CPD closed on $7.0M of Federal NMTCs provided by Dallas Development Fund, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by US Bank.

The NMTC subsidy helped CPD close its capital campaign gap, providing the organization with low-cost financing to complete a new headquarters that will provide a host of services that directly and indirectly address the needs of the most needy, at-risk children in Dallas, all in an environment that will promote the crucial sense of safety and security that these children need during one of the most traumatizing periods in their lives.

Norfolk Medical Office Building

October 4, 2018 by

The new Fountain Point Medical Office Building (“SurgiCenter”) development in rural Norfolk, Nebraska will focus on an 83,493 square-foot medical office complex. The Medical Office Building will include physical therapy, pediatrics, family practice, internal medicine, imaging, lab, orthopedics, specialty clinic, surgical/oncology, pain, ambulatory surgical center and a YMCA/daycare. There are shared common areas for IT, waiting space, reception, and restrooms.

The Fountain Point development is located on 55 acres in southwest Norfolk and will be a gateway to the community, giving physicians the autonomy to advocate for their patients. The goal of this development and project is to provide a continuum of care to meet the needs of the internal and external community. This project will also be a regional hub for medical services under one roof and provide the same specialty service found in larger metropolitan communities.

The new Fountain Point MOB is the result of a group of Norfolk physicians attempting to combat the lack of local medical service providers, as well as the rising cost of medical care, by building one large facility to house a wide variety of medical services, using the lowest cost of capital available. The SurgiCenter physicians decided that lower-cost financing options such as TIF bonds and the NMTC program, while less straightforward than a conventional construction loan, would ultimately mean a lower cost to the medical service provider tenant, and therefore a lower cost of care to the end user.

In January of 2018, SurgiCenter’s management hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the expansion. Having already secured bank loan commitments and TIF Financing totaling $8.6 million, Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with both Nebraska State NMTC allocation and Federal NMTC allocation. In October of 2018, Crescent and SurgiCenter closed on $10.0M of Nebraska State NMTCs provided by Brownfield Revitalization, and $5.3M of Federal NMTCs provided by Brownfield Revitalization, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by US Bank.

Without the Nebraska State and Federal NMTC subsidies the SurgiCenter would not be able to continue to expand its patient base while holding to its commitment to keep surgery costs low. The new SurgiCenter will be a ‘one-stop-shop’ medical complex for the surrounding, medically-underserved census tract; moreover, the NMTC subsidy significantly reduces the high construction costs typically associated with this type of modern medical facility, and that savings will directly translate to a lower overall cost of care to the residents of this low-income community. Additionally, the NMTC financing allows the Project to pursue energy efficient elements such as LED fixtures, low-flow plumbing, and high efficiency mechanical systems including HVAC, lighting, and water heating/storage, lowering facility operating costs, which further .

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