‘First-of-its-kind’ AltCap investment pool aims to transform Kansas City’s urban blight
August 27, 2018 | Startland News Staff
With more than 5,000 blighted homes and vacant lots, Kansas City’s urban core might soon see some help thanks to new AltCap investment pool.
AltCap, a Kansas City-based community development financial institution, has partnered with Legal Aid of Western Missouri and Stinson Leonard Street to create a fund that’s focused on rehabilitation of housing in Kansas City’s urban core. The effort already has raised $305,000 from local investors and the First Federal Bank of Kansas City.
The “first-of-its-kind partnership” will provide title clearing services and loans to rehabbers restoring abandoned homes in the urban core, said AltCap president Ruben Alonso III. AltCap will manage the funds, underwriting and services loans to rehabbers that are working in partnership with neighborhood associations, he added.
“The short-term loans will be used to hire laborers, contractors, plumbers, electricians and other construction trades, creating local jobs and supporting economic activity, while revitalizing homes and neighborhoods in the urban core,” he said.
Abandoned homes often attract crime, reduce property values and diminish the quality of life for people who live in the area, AltCap said. The KC Social Investment Pool helps revitalize urban core neighborhoods by providing the funding to allow rehabbers to turn blighted properties into quality homes for working, low-income families.
The 29 neighborhoods that are eligible for the program include:
- Scarritt
- Indian Mound
- Lykins
- Independence Plaza
- East 23rd St. PAC
- Blue Valley
- Sheffield
- Washington Wheatley
- Key Coalition
- Santa Fe
- Mount Hope
- Boston Heights
- Ivanhoe
- Oak Park
- Palestine
- Vineyard
- 49/63
- Blue Hills
- Town Fork Creek
- Mt. Cleveland
- Swope Parkway / Elmwood
- Marlborough East
- Marlborough West
- Tri-Blenheim
- Neighborhoods United for Action (NUFA)
- Ruskin
- Forgotten Homes
- Manheim Park
For those interested in learning more, AltCap and Legal Aid are hosting a workshop at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 13 at the Seton Center, 2816 E. 23rd St., Kansas City, MO 64127. Additional information is available at www.alt-cap.org/home-rehab or by contacting Davin Gordon, AltCap business development officer at davin@alt-cap.org
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Sometimes self-care is more about shutting down than showing out (Holistic Hustle)
Kharissa Parker-Forte is a news producer, writer, certified health coach, and columnist for Startland News. Read her “Holistic Hustle” columns for Startland News here. When I recently made the decision to dissolve my self care brand, Grace & Grind, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make. From the outside looking…
Sandlot scores endorsement by one of KC’s favorite players; how the deal puts this brand on a base path to the big leagues
Kansas City’s only local hat maker, Sandlot Goods, announced Thursday its first professional athlete endorsement — from Royals infielder Nicky Lopez — in a hit aimed as a major play in the brand’s home run strategy. “We are incredibly excited about our first major league endorsement,” said Chad Hickman, founder of Sandlot Goods. “The first…
Despise doggie duty? It’s only No. 10 on startup’s list of pet peeve tasks people don’t want to do themselves
One in four Kansas City residents say they’ve become worse at handling awkward tasks since the pandemic began, according to a new survey by local services marketplace Airtasker. Among the most biting tasks KC wants to avoid: picking up dog poop from someone else’s lawn. Airtasker, which acquired Kansas City-based startup Zaarly in May 2021,…
Overland Park startup wins four pilot projects through NXTUS health competition
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. WICHITA…