The HBCU Community Development Action Coalition (CDAC) has launched the first HBCU-focused Opportunity Fund to ignite reinvestment in and around Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
The Renaissance HBCU Opportunity Fund aims to attract investment capital to help fund development of mixed-use projects on or near HBCU campuses in federally designated Opportunity Zones. The fund has also been selected to receive support from the Kresge and Rockefeller Foundations through the Opportunity Zones Incubator, which will provide technical assistance to help bring the fund to market.
“With nearly 50 percent of HBCUs located in Opportunity Zones, the HBCU CDAC sees this is an opportunity to position HBCU communities as investment hubs that will ultimately create jobs, stimulate small business activity, and create better economic opportunities within these communities,” said Ron Butler, chief executive officer of the HBCU CDAC.
The fund is particularly interested in mixed use projects that will attract supermarkets to food deserts designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as health care facilities to medically underserved communities designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The fund also intends to structure each investment transaction in such a way that will allow the neighboring HBCU to share in the financial success of the project.
For more information or to get involved, contact Ron Butler at hbcucoalition@gmail.com or (305) 322-7555.
