Banco Popular subsidiary receives $40M allocation from U.S. Treasury
The funds will be used to enhance services to low-income communities in Puerto Rico, New York and Florida.
Popular Community Capital LLC, a subsidiary of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, recently received a $40 million New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) allocation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to support low-income communities that face high poverty, a lack of quality jobs, poor access to health care and a need for youth services.
“With this NMTC allocation, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the communities we serve. These funds will allow us to continue supporting vital projects in low-income communities, driving economic and social development where it is needed most,” said Eli Sepúlveda, executive vice president of Commercial Credit Group at Popular.
“Since we started the NMTC program, we have been able to provide financing with flexible rates and terms to real estate and non-real estate projects and operating companies that have a financing gap, limited access to market-rate capital or have exhausted other sources of subsidy,” Sepúlveda added.
Popular Community Capital will allocate these funds to projects with gap financing and businesses seeking enhanced financing, including manufacturing industrial facilities, health care and multi-service youth community projects, to spur investment and economic growth in underserved communities.
This is Popular Community Capital’s third NMTC allocation, bringing its total to $160 million since 2015.
To date, Popular Community Capital has deployed its awards to 25 for-profit and nonprofit borrowers with a total project investment need of $330 million, which is projected to create more than 1,120 jobs in highly distressed low-income communities, bank officials said.
The Treasury awarded $5 billion in total for 2023, and Popular Community Capital was one of 104 Community Development Entities (CDEs) to receive an allocation.
