‘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
Community Builders to Watch: Dan Smith and Charon Thompson grow an equitable future for KC by focusing on the now
Editor’s note: Startland News is showcasing six Kansas City changemakers from five local organizations in its inaugural Community Builders to Watch list. The following highlights two of the 2021 honorees, selected from more than 100 initial nominees by a panel of judges. Click here to view the full list of Community Builders to Watch —…
Why underserved founders shouldn’t patiently ‘wait their turn’; Pipeline Pathfinder applications close Nov. 9
Editor’s note: Pipeline is a financial supporter of Startland News. Pipeline’s new Pathfinder program is accepting applications through Nov. 9. Click here to apply. Proof points long used to indicate a startup’s readiness to scale or raise capital favor white, male-led companies, said Melissa Vincent, stressing traditional markers like even a founder’s ability to dedicate…
Startup’s tech hits Hallmark shelves with video greeting cards; partnership ‘worth the wait’
Kansas City creative giant Hallmark’s newly announced line of video greeting cards is more than a one-of-a-kind product innovation — it’s the outcome of an extended startup partnership that was years in the making, Laura Steward said. “In 2015, we won a Launch KC grant,” recalled Steward, founder and CEO of Kearney, Missouri-based VideoFizz, describing the…
Why this KC couple will be lifting a celebratory ‘Dirty Sunrise’ when GEWKC drops anchor
The married duo behind Anchor Island Coffee already knew they’d have to defy expectations for their tropical-themed breakfast spot to succeed on Troost. And then came COVID. “Just two weeks after we opened in March 2020, we closed,” said Mike Hastings, who owns the shop with husband Armando Vasquez. “By May, we were able to…