KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City is set for an infusion of economic development capital as the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) moves forward with new funding to make impact investments that benefit often-overlooked parts of the metro area.
Arvest Bank recently provided a $5 million loan to LISC that will provide seed capital for redevelopment efforts that boost the economic infrastructure of low-income neighborhoods to eliminate blight, improve safety, expand affordable housing and attract businesses and jobs.
“Kansas City is fortunate to have the community development expertise of LISC available”, said Mark Larrabee, president & CEO for Arvest in Greater Kansas City. “We are confident that the additional resources our loan provides to LISC will enable a powerful economic impact throughout the region.”
It’s a unique relationship developed locally, but with implications for LISC’s national community development work, offering a model for regional lenders looking to deploy grants, loans and investments that improve the quality of life in struggling areas within their business footprint.
“The value in this kind of investment is not just in the loans themselves but in the millions of dollars in additional development activity that this capital can leverage.”
Stephen Samuels, executive director of LISC’s Kansas City program
For instance, LISC has invested more than $150 million in grants, loans and equity in Kansas City since 1981, and leveraged those investments to support $676 million in total development activity.
The relationship with Arvest strengthens LISC’s public-private-philanthropic (P3) initiatives, such as the Catalytic Urban Predevelopment Fund, a $4 million resource that provides low-interest, patient capital for projects in the city’s urban core. It will also support an emerging $25-$40 million capital fund for the Kansas City Catalytic Urban Redevelopment (KC-CUR) initiative focused on the city’s east side.
“These loans are critical resources to help us energize neighborhood economies,” Samuels stressed. “We’re especially pleased to have a local lender focused on our own local growth. It speaks to the incredible level of business and civic leadership we enjoy in Kansas City and the strong commitment of companies like Arvest to our future.”