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Side note:
Soft music plays.
On screen:
This video opens with an aerial view of a city block with modern apartment buildings and stores. Then, an older woman with short silver hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Arabella Martinez, Co-founder, The Unity Council.
Arabella Martinex:
If you can see the invisible, you can do the impossible. And when I think about the Transit Village, that's what I think.
On screen:
A montage shows a rapid transit train passing along a bridge over Fruitvale Village, a vibrant town center with plazas, palm trees, and mosaic murals.
Arabella Martinex:
Everybody used to tell us, “This is impossible. How can you do this? You can't do this.” We kept saying, “No, no, we're going to do it.”
Text on screen:
Fruitvale Transit Village. Seeing the invisible for Oakland, California.
Logos:
- J.P. Morgan;
- Chase;
- and the Chase octagon symbol.
On screen:
A man with salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Chris Iglesias, CEO, the Unity Council.
Chris Iglesias:
The Unity Council started back in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, advocating for basic needs with the city.
On screen:
Film footage from the mid-twentieth century shows:
- civil rights protesters, some carrying signs;
- a vacant lot;
- (and) neighbors in an economically disadvantaged community.
Then, a silver-haired man with a beard speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Jim Mather, Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer, BRIDGE Housing.
Jim Mather:
It was formed really in response to the long-term disinvestment. They were very visionary in seeing what it would take to revitalize the Fruitvale neighborhood.
On screen:
A woman with brown hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Cécile Chalifour, Managing Director Community Development Real Estate, JPMorgan Chase.
Cécile Chalifour:
They were created by the community, for the community, and literally everything they did and have done is related to them.
On screen:
A montage shows Mr. Iglesias speaking with three colleagues in a small conference room.
Cécile Chalifour:
The cost of housing is particularly high here. The Bay Area is almost like the epicenter of a crisis we see nationwide.
On screen:
An aerial view shows the city of Oakland with miles of surrounding neighborhoods. Then, Mr. Iglesias speaks to us:
Chris Iglesias:
For a long time there, was always kind of a mystery about who lives in affordable housing and what does it mean and why is it so important. Well, the pandemic showed why it's so important: we need to have our essential workers close to the Bay.
On screen:
A montage shows:
- apartments in the Fruitvale area.
- healthcare workers, educators, and laboratory technicians.
Chris Iglesias:
And that's what affordable housing is: it's housing for essential workers that are vital parts of the community, next to transportation, close to schools. And that's exactly what you have here with Casa Sueños.
On screen:
At a plaza, in Fruitvale, a brightly colored directory stands near a small business. Mr. Iglesias speaks with Mr. Mathers and Ms. Chalifour outside a building with a sign reading "Casa Sueños."
Chris Iglesias:
We are part of a TOD (a Transit-Oriented Development), one of the most famous ones in the country, the Fruitvale Transit Village.
On screen:
A sign on a restaurant reads "Wahpepah's Kitchen." Then, a woman with pulled-back black hair speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Chef Crystal Wahpepah, Owner, Wahpepah's Kitchen.
Crystal Wahpepah:
It's a huge honoring being in the Fruitvale area and especially when you're born and raised and you care so much about this community, sometimes you have to dig deep and look under the layers, but you'll find nothing but beauty. So that's why Wahpepah’s Kitchen is right here in the heart of Fruitvale.
On screen:
A montage shows Chef Wahpepah:
- slicing vegetables in her kitchen;
- and standing next to murals of Native American art in her restaurant.
A montage shows Fruitvale's colorful multi-cultural themed murals, which include portraits and a hummingbird. Neighbors shop at an outdoor farmer's market.
Chris Iglesias:
The Village is really, I think, a hub for, also for community engagement and community resources. The exciting thing is that we have owned, in partnership with the City of Oakland, an abandoned Masonic Temple for 20 years.
On screen:
A montage shows a spacious hall (with high ceilings and large columns) undergoing renovation.
Chris Iglesias:
We finally turned it into a New Market Tax Credit deal in partnership with JPMorgan Chase.
On screen:
Wearing hardhats, Mr. Iglesias walks through the renovation site with a JPMorgan Chase executive. Then, that man speaks to us.
Text on screen:
Jalen Marable, Vice President, New Markets Tax Credit, JPMorgan Chase.
Jalen Marable:
New Market Tax Credits are a federal tax incentive that was created to stimulate private investment in distressed communities. And so on the ground floor, you're going to have the Fruitvale Public Market, which is a small business incubator that has 8 to 10 small businesses. And then on floors two and three, you're going to have a combination of coworking space for small businesses, entrepreneurs – a lot of which are minorities – and then also you'll have their small business assistance center, which will provide technical assistance.
On screen:
Walking through the Masonic Temple building, under renovation, Mr. Iglesias and Mr. Marable:
- walk through a hallway;
- stand on an inside balcony, overlooking a hall;
- (and) inspect a large room with a hardwood floor.
Jalen Marable:
With New Market Tax Credits, we like to provide catalytic impact that's going to stimulate other investments. And so right down the street you have Casa Sueños, which was funded by JPMorgan Chase as well, using low-income housing tax credits. So it was a great story to bring everything full circle.
Side note:
Encouraging music with vocals plays.
On screen:
Aerial views of the Fruitvale area show:
- rapid transit train tracks on a long bridge running parallel to shops and apartments;
- a housing complex with a sunny outdoor plaza;
- and a residential street lined with large palm trees.
Jim Mather:
Bridge is happy to add its financial and technical expertise and capacity to groups like Unity Council. Every project we build, like Casa Sueños, every unit we provide helps a family, helps a disabled person, helps a homeless person.
On screen:
Framed family photos are displayed on a long shelf in an apartment. An elderly mom and her grown daughters sit at a living room table, looking at newspaper articles.
Jalen Marable:
It's going to give small businesses, entrepreneurs, and just general community members access and a place to convene and to call home, display their art, come together, and celebrate.
On screen:
A montage shows Mr. Marable at the renovation site:
- shaking hands with a construction worker:
- and touring different rooms with Mr. Iglesia.
Arabella Martinex:
We just kept at it. This has not been a short-term project. It's not the bricks and mortar that's so important; it's the values, it's the maintenance of the values.
Text on screen:
Fruitvale Transit Village. Seeing the invisible for Oakland, California.
Logos:
- J.P. Morgan;
- Chase;
- and the Chase octagon symbol.
Text on screen:
Learn more at unitycouncil.org.
Logos:
The Unity Council. 60 Years. 1964 - 2024. 60th Anniversary.
Equal Housing Lender.
Side note:
Legal disclosures:
Text on screen:
Chase, J.P. Morgan, and JPMorgan Chase are marketing names for certain businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates and subsidiaries worldwide (collectively, “JPMC”, “We”, “Our” or “Us”, as the context may require).
We prepared these materials for discussion purposes only and for your sole and exclusive benefit. This information is confidential and proprietary to our firm and may only be used by you to evaluate the products and services described here. You may not copy, publish, disclose or use this information for any other purpose unless you receive our express authorization.
These materials do not represent an offer or commitment to provide any product or service. In preparing the information, we have relied upon, without independently verifying, the accuracy and completeness of publicly available information or information that you have provided to us. Our opinions, analyses and estimates included here reflect prevailing conditions and our views as of this date. These factors could change, and you should consider this information to be indicative, preliminary and for illustrative purposes only. This Information is provided as general market and/or economic commentary. It in no way constitutes research and should not be treated as such.
The information is not advice on legal, tax, investment, accounting, regulatory, technology or other matters. You should always consult your own financial, legal, tax, accounting, or similar advisors before entering into any agreement for our products or services. In no event shall JPMorgan Chase or any of its directors, officers, employees or agents be liable for any use of, for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon or for any inaccuracies or errors in, or omissions from, the information in this material.
The information does not include all applicable terms or issues and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any product or service. Our products and services are subject to applicable laws and regulations, as well as our service terms and policies. Not all products and services are available in all geographic areas or to all customers. In addition, eligibility for particular products and services is subject to satisfaction of applicable legal, tax, risk, credit and other due diligence, JPMorgan Chase’s “know your customer,” anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism and other policies and procedures.
Products and services may be provided by Commercial Banking affiliates, securities affiliates or other JPMC affiliates or entities. In particular, securities brokerage services other than those that can be provided by Commercial Banking affiliates will be provided by appropriate registered broker/dealer affiliates, including J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and J.P. Morgan Institutional Investments Inc. Any securities provided or otherwise administered by such brokerage services are not deposits or other obligations of, and are not guaranteed by, any Commercial Banking affiliate and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.
Copyright 2024 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved.
END
When The Unity Council set out to revitalize the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California, using community-driven development, its leaders were told it couldn’t be done. The area had faced decades of disinvestment.
Thirty years later, Fruitvale Transit Village is a renowned transit-oriented development with mixed-income housing, retail, offices for community organizations and easy access to services residents need.
The neighborhood already had “good bones,” said Arabella Martinez, co-founder of The Unity Council. “We were able to do all the things which made those good bones really shine.”
The Unity Council—then known as the Spanish Speaking Unity Council of Alameda County—was founded in Oakland at the height of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
“It was this small but mighty group of local activists that started advocating on behalf of basic needs in the community,” said Chris Iglesias, CEO of The Unity Council. “They started getting some wins and just continued to grow from there, really responding to the needs of the community. And I think that’s what has kept us around for 60 years.”
The area, now home to Fruitvale Transit Village, was once Oakland’s second downtown, Martinez said. But after World War II, the community saw disinvestment and displacement.
When a prominent new development—a parking garage—was proposed in the 1990s, Fruitvale’s reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Parking wasn’t going to spark economic development essential to keeping residents in the community.
The Unity Council had a vision for a very different type of project: a transit-oriented development providing safe, affordable housing and access to much-needed services.
“It’s revitalization of the community, and doing that with the people in the community,” Martinez said.
Making that vision a reality took decades of work, close collaboration with a team of public and private organizations, and a commitment to local needs.
People told The Unity Council it would be impossible for the organization to develop a project on Fruitvale Transit Village’s scale, Martinez said. The organization needed to convince critical local organizations to support their vision and raise substantial funding to get even the planning stages off the ground.
“They had that passion, that love for the community, that made it non-negotiable,” said Cécile Chalifour, West Region Manager for Community Development Banking at JPMorgan Chase, which supported Fruitvale Transit Village with multiple layers of financing.
Over nearly 30 years, The Unity Council grew Fruitvale Transit Village into a 19-acre mixed-use development including:
But the final phase of development was critical to completing The Unity Council’s vision: an affordable housing development that could help keep Fruitvale’s long-term residents in the community.
Casa Sueños is a 181-unit affordable housing community The Unity Council co-developed with San Francisco-based BRIDGE Housing, one of the leading nonprofit affordable housing developers on the West Coast. The colorful new community is a substantial addition to the pool of affordable housing in Fruitvale, said Jim Mather, BRIDGE Housing’s Chief Investment Officer. Casa Sueños also includes 46 supportive housing units and space for a local nonprofit serving the community.
“What that does is helps stabilize [the neighborhood],” Mather said. “You get better educational outcomes for kids, you get better financial outcomes for adults, you get better outcomes for folks who need supportive services.”
JPMorgan Chase’s Community Development Banking provided an $89.8 million construction loan and $55.7 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investments to develop 47 affordable housing units.
“The fact that The Unity Council, in partnership with other organizations, was able to envision it and work with BRIDGE Housing to actually build it—I still think it’s kind of a miracle,” Iglesias said. “It has really lifted up the community in so many ways.”
All the growth in Fruitvale Transit Village meant residents needed a space to gather. The Unity Council had owned an abandoned Masonic temple—an ideal location for a community center—for about 20 years. But the building needed renovations and accessibility improvements, including an elevator.
JPMorgan Chase provided a $3.95 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) equity investment—the final capital needed to fund the project. In addition to hosting events, the building will house Peralta Service Corporation, The Unity Council’s social enterprise organization, as well as a small business assistance center and affordable co-working space.
“We call that ‘lasagna financing’ because there are so many layers that have to come together, that’s what makes these projects special,” said Jalen Marable, Vice President with JPMorgan Chase Community Development Banking’s NMTC team. “When you can get so many different organizations working together to create something as meaningful as this project, it’s always special to see.”
JPMorgan Chase also provided $3 million in philanthropic capital to The Unity Council to lead economic development efforts in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood with the goal of creating a prosperous, vibrant, diverse and sustainable neighborhood, with good jobs, affordable housing and an ecosystem of local businesses.
The firm also opened a JPMorgan Chase Community Center branch in Oakland, which will include services such as financial health workshops, mentoring for entrepreneurs and a community event space along with traditional banking services.
“We are bullish about the Oakland community and saw the vision of the whole village, and how transformative it will be for the entire area,” Chalifour said.
Oakland still faces challenges, but completing the final phase of Fruitvale Transit Village after 30 years “has lifted up the community in so many different ways,” Iglesias said.
“I hope it gives folks hope for the future. To show that—despite the pandemic and all these financial challenges—we could continue to deliver these types of projects for the community,” he said.
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Visit jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/legal-disclaimer for disclosures and disclaimers related to this content.
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