Nashville NOAH Fund

Regions Bank offered the $19.2 million loan for the two properties on a short-term, interest-only basis. The loan was made through the state Community Investment Tax Credit program, which gives the bank a tax credit in exchange for investing in low income housing. For the next few years, until it refinances the project with federal tax credits, Urban Housing Solutions (UHS) will only pay interest on the loan, which is currently 0%, essentially making this a free loan. And for the foundations that offered the loan guarantee, the bill will likely never come. The deal was structured so that the foundations — the Memorial Foundation, the Healing Trust, the James Stephen Turner Family Foundation, and the Kharis Foundation — could put their endowment to use to promote affordable housing without actually making grants to the developer, a process that usually takes more time. Assuming that UHS doesn’t default on the loan, the collateral funds will never be used, and the foundations have agreed to re-commit them for future preservation projects.