CASE STUDY
Majority Equity Investor $50MM Total Project Closed October 2020
*at time of investment
*all impacts estimated as of project closing date
The Sharswood Ridge project is helping to revitalize the Sharswood neighborhood in Philadelphia by building approximately 234,000 square feet of affordable and workforce housing and retail development, including a grocery store, a bank branch, and an urgent care medical clinic, all of which the neighborhood desperately needs. The development is part of a comprehensive plan spearheaded by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) to rebuild the long-underinvested Sharswood community, a federally designated “food desert” and “severely distressed” area. Construction began in October 2020.
Sharswood is a small neighborhood in North Philadelphia, best known as one of the nation’s important jazz centers from the 1920s to the early 1960s. The neighborhood has experienced disinvestment for many years.
This project was made possible by many organizations who are committed to supporting the vision that residents of Sharswood have for their community. Numerous for-profit and nonprofit partners collaborated to bring the project to life and create an innovative financing structure. The Woodforest CEI-Boulos Opportunity Fund is the majority private equity investor in the project and was the first equity investor to commit to and invest in the area’s overall revitalization plan. Additional public-private financing includes crowdsourced capital from the community, New Markets Tax Credits, PHA loans, Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grants from the state of Pennsylvania, and loans from PIDC, the economic development agency for the city. The local, minority-owned development firm overseeing the project is committed to delivering social impact in underinvested urban neighborhoods.