“It seems like there’s been a weight lifted from my shoulders, as far as coming here, because you don’t have people saying to you ‘what do you want? You live in the projects.’ There was always either trouble or people who just didn’t care about the place. That’s why, to me, this place is like a blessing.”

Robert Kennedy, Resident, Old Colony

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“Once the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust was involved, it was a guarantee that this larger job would provide any number of jobs that a lot of people see in this community… and contribute to the larger society because of the wages and the benefits that are associated with union labor.”

John Cusack, Carpenters’ Steward, Local 40, Charlesview 

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The HIT-financed Moderne project was recently featured on the local Milwaukee TV series, Building Wisconsin, which highlights building and construction trades members working on new construction projects across the state. Click the video link above to watch a segment of the series in which Rick Barrett, the developer on the Moderne project, discusses the HIT’s role in financing the project.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held last Saturday for the 225 Centre Street project in Boston’s Jackson Square district.  The HIT and its subsidiary, Building America, are providing a combined $15.4 million of financing (in investments and tax credits) for this $53.2 million mixed-use development. The 225 Centre Street project will create 103 units of housing, 35 of which are affordable, and will generate approximately 300 union construction jobs.

Click here to read more about this project.

Residents of Oregon’s Coquille Valley can now take advantage of a new state-of-the-art medical facility that officially opened its doors with a celebration in April following a $30 million construction project.  The HIT provided $22 million in financing for the new 51,000 square-foot Coquille Valley Hospital extension, which allows the facility to better serve a growing number of outpatients as well as provide improved emergency services.

Click here to read the full story.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel of union-friendly investment funds at the Building and Construction Trades Department 2012 Legislative Conference. This 4-day event, held in Washington, D.C., brought together members of the labor community from all across the country in order to discuss issues pertaining to construction unions and inspire collaborative solutions to the challenges facing the labor movement. My presentation highlighted one such challenge: the staggering rate of unemployment in the construction sector. Unemployment in the construction industry today is as bad as it was in the country as a whole during the Great Depression. With some trades facing unemployment rates as high as 50%, the HIT continues to put people back to work through its Construction Jobs Initiative. Since 2009, this initiative has created more than 12,500 union construction jobs, and we’re working toward the goal of creating 15,000 jobs by the end of this year. The HIT is proud of the success the initiative has achieved so far and remains committed to creating jobs for hard working men and women across the country. This was the message I delivered to both investors and potential investors in the HIT at the conference this week. We greatly appreciate the confidence union pension plans have shown through their investments in the HIT, and we reaffirm our commitment to investing that capital in construction projects that put union members back to work.

Ted Chandler, Chief Operating Officer, AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust

“In HOMES FOR ALL, Twin Cities Public Television takes an in-depth look at the vast need for sustainable, affordable housing choices in Minnesota and the dynamic landscape of affordable housing. Experience how, through investments made by forward-thinking government agencies, businesses, and charitable organizations, families achieve self-reliance and ensure a bright future for their children. Not only does affordable housing allow people to live close to where they work, it helps make our Minnesota communities and economy more vibrant and sustainable.” ~Twin Cities Public Television

Two HIT-financed affordable housing projects in Minneapolis’s Hope Community –The Wellstone and The Jourdain– appear in the TV documentary as examples of successful redevelopments.  Click on the image above to watch the segment of the film profiling the Hope Community redevelopment (11 minutes).

Over the past ten years, the HIT has invested $366.7 million in 30 Minnesota projects, leveraging nearly $600 million of development, generating over 3,600 union construction jobs, and creating over 3,700 units of housing, 62% of which are affordable.

Click here to watch the film trailer (1 minute). Click here to watch the full documentary (56 minutes).

At a Pride of St. Louis, Inc., investment summit Tuesday, HIT COO Ted Chandler announced the HIT’s $6.6 million investment in the Holy Infant and St. Joseph Apartments, two developments for low-income seniors in Shrewsbury, MO.  The HIT investment will preserve affordability and carry out a major rehabilitation of the two facilities. Work on the $13 million project is expected to generate 75 union construction jobs. Click on the image above to watch local news coverage of the event.