The US Department of Treasury has named Lowe Economic Development Company., a Lowe Enterprises affiliate, as a Community Development Entity (CDE) which can invest New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to generate investment capital that will be used to provide flexible, low-cost financing products to qualified projects throughout specific service areas in the West and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US. Equity generated from the sale of NMTCs can fill the financing gap on eligible projects and can often cover approximately 25 percent of a project's total development costs.

Lowe invests all of its allocation in real estate development projects located in low-income communities with high distress. Lowe prioritizes those projects that generate maximum community and economic benefits (i.e. high quality jobs, sustainable building and operations, community services, sales taxes, business license taxes, property tax increment). Lowe has the flexibility to invest in a wide range of project types, including retail, office, industrial, mixed-use, community facilities and health care facilities.

The criteria for investment are site specific and determined by census block group. Eligible projects must be located in a census tract characterized as economically distressed. Eligible census tracts must meet at least one of the following characteristics:

		poverty rate greater than 30 percent;
		median income less than 60 percent of area median income; or,
		unemployment rate at least 1.5 times the national average.

Alternatively, the project can be located in a census tract that meets at least two economic distress designations, including but not limited to: HOPE VI Redevelopment Area, Tax Increment Financing District, Federal Empowerment Zone, Federal Enterprise Community or Federal Brownfields Redevelopment Area. Lowe has been approved to invest in California and additional markets in the West Coast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

In addition, Lowe provides NMTC Advisory Services to Higher Education, Healthcare and Public entities that are seeking NMTC funds, and is able to provide construction management, project management and asset management services to NMTC investment or advisory projects on an as needed basis. For more information about Lowe's NMTC business, please contact:

Albert Lemus
310-571-4384

Liberty Station
Lowe provided $12 million in NMTC to help fund phase two of the Liberty Station redevelopment of the former Naval Training Center in Point Loma into the NTC Promenade, a cultural and arts center that is part of the larger master planned base redevelopment undertaken by the San Diego Redevelopment Agency. Phase two of the NTC Promenade is a $20 million renovation of seven buildings totaling 75,000 square feet. The expansion will provide office and community space for cultural and arts education programs. The NTC Promenade is run by the non-profit NTC Foundation and serves an area designated as a Renewal Community.

Sharp San Diego Medical Office
Lowe provided $13 million in NMTC to help fund the $40 million development of a 68,350-square foot, three-story medical office and primary care facility. Located in the Bankers Hill neighborhood near downtown San Diego, the Sharp facility is designed to meet LEED Gold standards; it is the first facility in the area to seek this high standard for green/sustainable development. Sharp HealthCare, a non-profit, public benefit corporation that provides a regional integrated health care system in the San Diego area, will develop and own the center. Sharp will offer medical services including primary, specialty and urgent care to this low-income community.

Oregon College of Oriental Medicine
Lowe provided $6,750,000 in NMTC to support the Portland Development Commission's $ 14.5 million renovation of the former Globe Hotel into a new home for the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. The new facility, at 75 NW Couch Street in the Old Town/Chinatown district, allows the College to expand its affordable health care to a larger and underserved population. The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, which already serves more than 25,000 patients each year, will now have a centralized location for its clinic operations and its educational and training facilities.