A major housing developer has given $5 million to Columbia-based Enterprise Community Partners for more affordable housing, an unusual move for a private company.
“I think it?s extremely important that a private developer has made a decision to put some of his own money on the table for work-force housing,” said Jeffrey Lubell, executive director for the Center for Housing Policy, the research arm of the National Housing Conference, which advocates for affordable housing.
“It?s the kind of money you might typically see from the public sector.”
Ron Terwilliger, chairman and CEO of the Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential, donated the seed money for funds to encourage the development of affordable housing.
“Understandably, private companies are trying to make a profit and margins are very thin,” Lubell said. This makes Terwilliger?s move significant and sets a precedent for others to do the same.
Enterprise, co-founded by Columbia founder James Rouse and his wife, Patty, will invest the money through the new Enterprise Terwilliger Fund, which will generate more than $130 million for affordable-housing developments nationwide, Enterprise officials said.
The money will act as startup capital for a $100 million Maryland Regional Workforce Housing Fund, which will provide early-stage financing, such as below market-rate loans on land acquisition and construction, for developers and organizations, Enterprise officials said in a statement.
The funds “will enable us to make more loans and investments to produce critically needed affordable housing, secure land for large-scale development and create housing opportunities for working families near good jobs,” Enterprise Chairman Bart Harvey said.
Having a private company involved with the donation is also an advantage in that the company will ensure the money “is used strategically,” Lubell said.
“It?s not a gift that is a one-time benefit.”
