Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Cornerstone Group, a nonprofit subsidiary created by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, and the Lancaster-based Community First Fund will receive a combined $75 million in federal tax credits, according to the U.S. Treasury.
CCG will get $45 million from the New Markets Tax Credit program, while CFF will get $30 million.
They are two of the four organizations in Pennsylvania that are receiving allocations from the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which is awarding more than $3.5 billion in tax credits. Those credits are meant to stimulate investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities.
CCG has received these credits six times totaling $271 million, which has been used to fund 25 developments in the commonwealth.
PHFA spokesman Scott Elliott said this latest round of credits will be used to fund mixed-use developments across the commonwealth. Projects will be selected over the next 12 to 24 months, he said.
Pam Woodell, the New Markets Tax Credit manager for CFF, said its credits should be deployed by spring of 2016.
Those credits should help projects in Harrisburg, Lancaster and York, as well as the Reading area, she said. And CFF could partner with CCG on high-impact projects, she added: “We’ve done that before.”
CFF was first awarded tax credits two years ago. That allocation was for $15 million.
Also in Pennsylvania, The Reinvestment Fund Inc. in Philadelphia will receive $65 million in credits, while the Pittsburgh Urban Initiatives LLC will get $20 million, according to the Treasury.
