Business and Real Estate Financing Programs (.pdf)*

Report to the Community (.pdf)*

A Plan for the Future of Greater Lafayette Vision 2020

In the past two years, GLCDC has sharpened its focus and is now positioned as a community development and finance organization that operates real estate development and business loan programs to achieve community and
economic development benefits.

Our Mission
The mission of the GLCDC is to support and enhance the long-term health of our community through:

• Development of land and property for the enhancement of social, cultural, economic welfare, charitable and educational purposes that serve the common good;
• Improvement of the overall quality of life for Greater Lafayette residents;
• Community development; and,
• Creation of jobs, particularly for those of low and moderate income.

One of a Team
GLCDC is one of a team of organizations working to improve our area’s economy, amenities and quality of life. GLCDC’s unique roles are to own and develop property of community interest and to provide capital to stimulate business and real estate development projects.   

From Groundwork To Groundbreaking: GLCDC’s Beginnings
What began in 2001 as an informal, volunteer forum funded by local governments for planning community development ideas, has evolved into a focused, tax-exempt community development corporation. GLCDC is today professionally staffed and directed by a 25-member community board of directors.

In 2001, the GLCDC Board of Directors drafted a three-year
organization plan directing tasks to formalize the corporation and the
organization’s early work.

During 2002, our board completed all organizing tasks and provided assistance to the Up with Downtown project including developing strategies for improved downtown signage, helping reorganize the Downtown Business Center and participating in riverfront development planning activities.

One of the 2002 highlights was hiring a full-time president to work with the staff of Lafayette Urban Enterprise Association (LUEA) in managing GLCDC affairs.

From Groundwork To Groundbreaking 2003
In 2003 GLCDC partnered with Lafayette home builder Tempest Homes to successfully compete for the opportunity to redevelop four acres of former rail right-of-way property near downtown Lafayette. Work also began with area governments to create a comprehensive approach to redeveloping brownfield properties and to evaluate the area’s telecommunications services.

Groundwork also continued as GLCDC met with a diverse stakeholder group to create consensus on community development priorities and to develop a strategic business plan for GLCDC’s role in addressing them.

The priorities identified are to:

• Create and retain jobs
• Eliminate real estate blight
• Improve use and value of under-utilized properties
• Stimulate downtown development
• Advance redevelopment of brownfield properties
• Provide leadership and support to development in the river corridor
• Relocate expanding industries from constrained locations
• Develop vacant lots in Tippecanoe County’s urban center
• Create new industrial space
• Provide financial assistance for real estate and business development

Most important, a five-year plan was crafted to guide GLCDC’s efforts to address its mission and these community issues.

Launching Our Plan Of Action: Years 2004 To 2008
GLCDC’s Vision
Our vision is to build GLCDC into a development and finance organization capable of responding to the community’s business, real estate and community development needs.

Our Goal
GLCDC’s goal is to develop the technical and capital resources required to cultivate and capitalize on real estate and business opportunities that embody community interest.

Our Objectives
GLCDC programs and activities will focus on three objectives:

• Facilitating Community Development Projects
  GLCDC will support projects with multi-jurisdictional implications and appeal that also generate community-wide benefits.
• Developing “Challenged” Real Estate
  Challenged properties such as dilapidated buildings, brownfield sites and vacant lots will be prime targets of GLCDC activities and programs.
• Developing And Managing Business And Real Estate Financing Programs
  GLCDC’s major thrust will be programs that provide capital for business and real estate projects.

Development Strategies And Programs
GLCDC has developed several programs to provide direct loans and investments to a variety of community, real estate and business projects that meet the objectives of our community, sponsors and stakeholders. These include:

• Business Loan Fund to stimulate investment activity and jobs by arranging and participating in financing of business expansions, formations and acquisitions.
• Real Estate Loan Fund to help property owners finance commercial and
  industrial real estate projects that yield community benefits.
• Real Estate Development And Investment Fund to purchase properties or invest in real estate projects that meet community objectives but require more patient capital than conventional financing typically offers.
• Brownfield Development Program to arrange grants and loans to property owners to assess and remediate brownfield property conditions.
• Technical Assistance - Two primary types of assistance will be provided: financial planning to use government resources to fund business, real estate and community projects; and real estate development planning and management assistance.

Funding Our Work: Building Investment Capital For Community Development
GLCDC funding from 2001–2003 came from $260,000 in annual grants from
Lafayette, West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, LUEA and local innkeepers’ tax revenues.

Future Strategies
GLCDC’s new business plan centers on funding programs by leveraging existing
resources and using these funds to operate programs that produce both community benefits and income to support GLCDC operations and activities. This investment mechanism is called “program-related investment.”

Accomplishing this will require investing locally controlled, flexible, low-cost
capital in a variety of successful community, business and real estate projects.

Five-year Capitalization Goal: $6.2 million
GLCDC has committed $600,000 of its resources as seed capital for financing,
investment and development programs. We will seek matching funds to leverage an additional $5.6 million to capitalize our loan, investment and brownfield programs.

GLCDC believes this strategy offers an attractive investment vehicle that will attract “program-related investments.”

Potential funding partners and sources include:

• Local Financial Institutions
  Banks, savings organizations and credit unions often invest in community
  development organizations and projects that also address community objectives of mutual interest and benefit. GLCDC believes its plan will appeal to area institutions.
• Local Foundations And Governments
  These groups are prospective resources for GLCDC’s community
  investment funds.
• State And Federal Brownfield Grants
  Grants from state and federal sources are available to local governments to
  address brownfield issues. GLCDC will work with local government agencies to obtain such grants to assess and clean up brownfield properties.
• The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program
  This program of the U.S. Treasury offers as much as $2 million of matching funds to qualified community development corporations. GLCDC is positioning itself to meet CDFI’s criteria to match funding from local sources.

2004 - From Preparation To Implementation
GLCDC's most visible activity in 2004 will be construction of 22 single-family homes to
be built with Tempest Homes on property at Erie and Ferry Streets in Lafayette. Less visible, but no less significant, GLCDC will focus on important steps to implement its five-year plan: refining financing programs, developing investment partners, leveraging capital resources and evaluating transactions to address our business and community development objectives.