John Hope Bryant and Centennial Yards backer launch huge housing fund
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional comments from the partnership.
Noted entrepreneur and nonprofit leader John Hope Bryant is partnering with the firm behind the redevelopment of downtown Atlanta’s Gulch on a new investment fund focused on affordable housing and community revitalization, the companies announced Monday.
CIM Group, the Los Angeles-based developer of Centennial Yards, and Bryant Group Ventures have formed a partnership to “address the immense need for affordable housing and to deliver community and economic value to underserved markets throughout the United States,” the firms said in a news release.
Bryant is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of financial literacy nonprofit Operation HOPE. He is also an investor in Centennial Yards. Bryant Group Ventures is the umbrella company for several of his for-profit organizations.
The partnership’s first result is the CIM-BGV Affordable Housing Impact Fund, which recently closed more than $250 million in total investment capacity through fund equity and access to loans from major financial institutions. Truist Bank and Flagstar Bank are anchor investors.
“CIM and BGV worked on developing this innovative product to meet the needs of the community as well as banks’ need to secure professional management of some of their (Community Reinvestment Act) capital,” a spokesman for the fund told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The fund will invest in the creation and preservation of affordable multifamily housing primarily through the acquisition of existing properties as well as ground-up development. The types of projects it will largely invest in will be making improvements to existing affordable housing, according to the spokesman.
The initial key markets are Georgia, including Atlanta, Florida, Southern California, and the Washington, D.C., and New York metros. The venture expects to begin closing transactions in these markets “within the next few months,” according to the release.
The goal is for this initial fund to be one of a family of funds in the future, “which reinforces our expectation of a national footprint,” according to the spokesman.
Affordable housing was a key part of CIM Group’s incentive package from Atlanta officials for the redevelopment of the Gulch. Atlanta leaders in 2018 approved an incentive package of up to $1.9 billion — the largest in city history — to support the $5 billion project.
CIM contributed $28 million to the city of Atlanta’s affordable housing trust fund at the start of the project. The company has also agreed to set aside 20% of housing units within the project as affordable. The developer, however, could opt to pay an in-lieu fee to forgo that requirement.
Last year, Centennial Yards Co. opted to pay the city nearly $8.5 million rather than reserve any apartments at rents affordable to lower income residents in the 19-story Mitchell building.
In a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time, Centennial Yards Co. said it remains in compliance with its development agreement with the city and plans to add new affordable units at future towers.
The high-rise, which opened this year, was the first new tower erected as part of the $5 billion redevelopment of the Gulch, a 50-acre expanse of parking lots and rail lines between the Five Points MARTA Station and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The decision to solely provide market-rate housing at the Mitchell was controversial for residents wary of Centennial Yards’ commitment to affordable housing goals and its city-backed incentives.
― Staff writer Zachary Hansen contributed to this report.
About the Author
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
