Lending Products
For many years, government policies made it difficult for people of color to buy homes, preserve their neighborhoods, or start businesses. Today, predatory lenders, housing speculators, and companies that prioritize profit over people have created some of the biggest challenges facing the Bay Area: a housing crisis, struggling local businesses, and the displacement of too many families and entrepreneurs.
As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), LISC Bay Area makes loans and grants to projects, people, and organizations for whom traditional banks are inaccessible. We possess the expertise in specialized underwriting for complex affordable housing projects and we are willing to invest in historically risky markets where more traditional lenders may not venture. We do all of this because we dream of a Bay Area where everyone is safe, healthy, has agency, and feels included. We currently offer two major funding programs:
The Catalyst Housing Fund provides financing for affordable housing developments within a fifteen-mile radius of Meta’s Menlo Park campus. The program prioritizes family housing and at least 60% of the units must be affordable for low income individuals and families.
Partnership for the Bay's Future family of loan funds consist of two distinct funding initiatives: the Bay’s Future Fund (BFF) and the Community Housing Fund (CHF). Both funding initiatives support the production and preservation of affordable homes and are designed to bridge funding gaps throughout the region's rental housing market.
LISC offers flexible lending products designed to help local groups bring development projects to fruition and create more inclusive and vibrant communities. Our various loan types cover many phases of development and include: predevelopment, acquisition, construction, mini-permanent, permanent, bridge, and working capital lines of credits.