Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Community Partners Launch the Nashville Catalyst Fund

In Nashville, Mayor Freddie O’Connell has joined forces with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT), First Horizon, the Metro Housing Division, and other partners to establish the Nashville Catalyst Fund. This fund is a pioneering initiative geared towards creating, preserving, and developing more affordable housing in the region.

Establishing the Nashville Catalyst Fund

With Nashville’s real estate becoming increasingly competitive, the goal behind creating the Nashville Catalyst Fund is to offer fast, flexible capital to mission-oriented developers. The initial launch of the fund will see financial investment adding up to $75 million, with $20 million coming from Metro Nashville, $50 million from a credit facility led by First Horizon, and the last $5 million contributed by Vanderbilt University. The fund aims to raise another $25 million in the future.

An Aid to Affordable Housing

Mayor Freddie O’Connell sees the Catalyst Fund as a significant augmentation to the city’s existing affordable housing initiatives. He anticipates that the fund will facilitate the preservation and creation of at least 3,000 affordable dwellings in Nashville over the upcoming decade. By providing expedited, flexible loans, it’s hoped the fund will increase affordable housing production and help affordability-conscious developers keep lower-cost rental properties from being lost to the increasingly expensive housing market.

A Need For Affordable Housing

The director of Metro Housing, Angie Hubbard, explains the necessity of a tool like the Nashville Catalyst Fund in achieving their Affordable Housing Task Force’s goal of creating 55,000 housing units by 2030. The collaboration offered by this public-private partnership could expedite the execution of transactions, allowing developers to move swiftly on projects aimed at providing homes to Nashville residents in need.

United Efforts Solving Housing Issues

The Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Hal Cato, insists that Nashville needs a coalition effort in resolving the city’s affordable housing challenge. He points to the Catalyst Fund as a textbook example of the kind of collaboration between philanthropy, business, and government that’s needed to ensure everyone in Nashville has a place to call home.

Generating Loans for Mission-Driven Developers

The Nashville Catalyst Fund will provide loan products to mission-driven developers, including acquisition loans, pre-development loans, and bridge loans. These loans and the fund’s supportive measures are aimed at including and assisting emerging BIPOC and non-profit developers within the affordable housing sector.

Towards A Sustainable Future

The Catalyst Fund’s management will be handled by Forsyth Street Asset Management in collaboration with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and Pillars Development, with additional support from Nelson Community Partners. The initial $75 million investment can facilitate the creation or preservation of more than 3,000 units over the next ten years. The sustainable nature of the fund means that this initial investment could be recycled into more than $300 million in investment over the same period.

Call for further contribution

The Fund seeks an additional $25 million to support this work through ongoing fundraising and invites interested parties who want to learn more about the Nashville Catalyst Fund to visit their official website.