Boston-based Arctaris Impact Investors issues ‘impact notes’ to accredited and institutional investors to raise capital for its place-based investment initiatives in Maryland, Ohio, Colorado and other US cities.
The place-based strategies, which combine first-loss capital from local community foundations, governments and other philanthropic partners with private equity and debt capital, invest in affordable and workforce housing, broadband infrastructure and operating businesses that create good jobs and community wellbeing.
A $3 million investment from CFG will allow Arctaris to expand its Baltimore strategy, launched in 2016 with funding from Baltimore’s Abell Foundation and Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund. “This partnership expands our efforts to improve lives throughout Baltimore,” said Erik Howard of CFG, Baltimore’s largest community bank. CFG purchased the impact notes as part of its mandate to fulfill its Community Reinvestment Act requirements.
Community impact
Arctaris has invested roughly $50 million in Baltimore since 2016, including a hotel-to-residential workforce housing project located in an opportunity zone in downtown Baltimore (see, “Investors look for Opportunity Zones to get an extension and a fresh dose of tax-advantaged capital”).
Arctaris has also backed Up to Date Laundry, a laundry company that services local healthcare providers such as the University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins University, to create good jobs for East Baltimoreans.
Arctaris’ holistic approach, the firm’s Jonathan Towers said, “starts by considering the needs of the community and incorporates investments in local businesses and infrastructure as well as addressing housing needs.”
