Spring update: New CDFI Fund award, staff promotions, expert videos & the latest news from BlueHub
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Spring 2023 Update
What can we expect for the commercial real estate and housing markets in the year to come?
Insight from Elyse D. Cherry, CEO of BlueHub Capital
The New York Times reports that the commercial real estate industry is bracing for trouble as the midsize banks that service it become more cautious and less willing to lend. Commercial real estate values are also falling.
In times like these our capital here at BlueHub—innovative, patient and catalytic capital—is more critical than ever to the communities we serve. Thanks to the financial strength of BlueHub, we have the latitude to lend at the size, scale and complexity needed by our borrowers. In fact, the Loan Fund just received nearly $5 million in grant funding from the US Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund)’s Equitable Recovery Program.
On the residential mortgage side of our nonprofit, home sale prices fell year-over-year in February—the first time in nearly 11 years. A decline in home values may make it easier for first-time homebuyers to enter the market, but it also could mean trouble for homeowners with lower incomes who might need to tap into their home equity to get by. Household budgets are already stretched—just check out the latest consumer debt numbers and delinquencies and the cost burden of utility bills on families with low incomes.
BlueHub SUN stands ready to help families facing foreclosure retain and regain homeownership and save their homes for good. And BlueHub Energy is exploring new ways to harness clean energy in low-income and environmental justice communities.
We pay close attention to the markets to make sure that we anticipate the future needs of our organization and those we serve. Read more.
Be well,
Elyse D. Cherry
CEO, BlueHub Capital
In the News
BlueHub CEO Elyse Cherry to be honored with the 2023 LGBT Trailblazer Award by Boston Business Journal
Cherry will be acknowledged for her distinguished record of leadership in the LGBTQ+ community at an event hosted by the Boston Business Journal in May.
BlueHub Loan Fund receives $5 million from CDFI Fund to support equitable recovery from pandemic in low-income communities
BlueHub Loan Fund will use this funding to continue its work addressing housing insecurity for low-income people across its 22-state footprint.
Axios: How Massachusetts advocates are curbing the high cost of citizenship
Immigration advocates and local officials are tackling the cost barriers that keep thousands of Massachusetts residents from obtaining citizenship with the help of One Percent for America.
Boston Business Journal: BlueHub CEO interviewed in "Candid Conversation"
Elyse Cherry was featured in the Boston Business Journal's "Candid Conversations" video series, hosted by Executive Editor Doug Banks, where they talked about everything from community finance, to immigration, housing, marriage rights and more.
Congrats to BlueHub staff on new roles and promotions
As the needs of BlueHub's business lines change, we’re thrilled to be able to fill the gaps with our talented team and offer new opportunities to staff members. Join us in celebrating our colleagues:
- Elisabeth Davis, VP of Commercial Lending, BlueHub Loan Fund (formerly AVP of Commercial Lending)
- Mariel Espinosa, Closer & Customer Relations Manager, BlueHub SUN (formerly Customer Relations Manager)
- Emily Kaminsky, Director of Impact & Compliance (formerly Compliance Manager)
- Erin Shull, Senior Analyst of Communications & Investor Relations (formerly Communications & Investor Relations Analyst)
- Deeba Zivari, Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships, One Percent for America (formerly Strategic Partnerships Manager)
Learn from the Experts
Professor Kathleen Engel, Suffolk University Law School, on BlueHub SUN's foreclosure relief work
Professor Engel is a Research Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. She is a national authority on mortgage finance and regulation, subprime and predatory lending, consumer credit, and housing discrimination.
She calls BlueHub SUN's shared appreciation mortgage a "critical tool" in preventing eviction.
Professor Engel has advised federal and state agencies on various matters related to financing of loans and served for three years on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board. In addition, one of her many publications includes a 2011 book titled The Subprime Virus: Reckless Credit, Regulatory Failure and Next Steps, that tells the story behind the subprime mortgage crisis.
Borrower Spotlight: Win
Amy Lu, Project Manager for Win, the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for New York City’s homeless families, succinctly stated, “New York City has a constant need of housing for people experiencing homelessness.”
Win received an early-stage, predevelopment loan from BlueHub Loan Fund for two buildings in the Bronx — a 95-unit transitional housing facility for families, and a 223-unit permanent housing building with 133 units reserved for permanent supportive housing and 90 units of affordable housing.
Lu describes the project as an opportunity for Win to scale the work they have long been doing, providing wrap-around services for their residents. “This encompasses all of what we provide at Win,” she says. She also speaks of the value of co-locating the two housing types. “Being in community, having the chance to move from one housing type to the other in the same location is far less trauma-inducing. Residents see the same faces, they know the neighborhood, they retain a level of comfort.”
Lu shares the value of working with BlueHub. “Without having lending partners like BlueHub, a nonprofit like ours would have significant challenges self-developing a project of this size," she said.
BlueHub supports Homestart's ICYCLE event
BlueHub team members participated in the ICYCLE spin-a-thon, HomeStart’s annual outdoor event that supports their work fighting to end homelessness in Greater Boston. Learn more.
