Intermountain Health Impacts Affordable Housing in Colorado
Intermountain Health has completed its second impact investment to support affordable housing in Colorado with a $4-million loan to a nonprofit affordable housing financial institution.
Mercy Community Capital, part of Mercy Housing Inc., provides innovative financing arrangements to developers of affordable housing when conventional financing is not available or affordable.
Intermountain Health’s investment is part of its Place Based Investment, aiming to build healthier, more inclusive communities.
The loan will ultimately serve low- and moderate-income communities, including Overlook at Uplands in Westminster, Colorado. This 247-unit-to-be-built affordable rental property will have 182 units at or below 60% Area Medium Income (AMI), and 65 units at or below 70% AMI.
The loan will also help serve people with low incomes, seniors, farmworkers, formerly unhoused people, and people with special needs.
“Bringing critical affordable housing to those most in need does not happen without partners like Intermountain Health,” said Stefanie Joy, President of Mercy Community Capital. “We are grateful for the investment Intermountain Health is making to build more much-needed affordable, inclusive communities in Colorado.”
The investment is a continuation of the partnership Mercy Community Capital had with SCL Health, which merged with Intermountain in 2022. SCL Health first invested with Mercy Housing in 1998.
The loan will provide funds for acquisition, construction, bridge, or predevelopment financing. Housing developments may include single- and multi-family units and rental and homeownership for low-income families and individuals. In addition to Colorado, Mercy Community Capital has provided loans in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, Mercy Community Capital has also provided loans in Intermountain Health’s services areas, including Colorado.
Mercy Community Capital and Intermountain Health will continue to work together and pursue opportunities in states served by the healthcare provider.
Nicholas Fritz, Intermountain Impact Investing director, said these types of investments are an added resource to the communities served by the healthcare organization.
“Institutions like Mercy Community Capital are the life blood of affordable housing development,” Fritz said. “We are proud to deepen our long-standing partnership with Mercy. We view safe, healthy, and affordable housing as a prerequisite to achieving good health and are happy to support its development in the communities we serve.”
Intermountain’s Place Based Investment seeks to address the social determinants of health for low-and-moderate income residents of the communities they serve. Since 2019, Intermountain has provided over $110 million in loans and other investments, supporting the development of over 2,000 units of affordable housing and the financial wellbeing of more than 900 individuals.
Intermountain Health operates multiple clinics and hospitals in Colorado and in six other western states. Intermountain is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs.
For more than three decades, Mercy Community Capital (MCC), a leading Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has provided financing to support affordable housing and community development across the nation. MCC has focused exclusively on funding affordable housing and essential community infrastructure projects that support affordable housing. By collaborating with socially responsible developers, MCC has helped finance the development of single and multifamily homes for rental and homeownership. These developments help underserved communities, including people with low incomes, veterans, seniors, farmworkers, people who have experienced homelessness, and people with disabilities. MCC is an affiliate of the affordable housing nonprofit Mercy Housing, Inc. (MHI), headquartered in Denver. For more information, please visit mercyhousing.org/mcc