Labor Joins Forces With Mayor Nagin and Local and National Civic,
Religious, Financial and Academic Organizations to Address New Orleans/Gulf
Coast Housing Crisis
NEW ORLEANS, June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- AFL-CIO President John Sweeney,
flanked by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Building and Construction Trades
Department-AFL-CIO President Edward C. Sullivan, International
Longshoremen's Association Local 3000 President James O. Campbell, Steve
Coyle, Chief Executive Officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and
a broad contingency of New Orleans labor, civic, religious, financial, and
academic leaders, today announced the AFL-CIO Gulf Coast Revitalization
Program, a seven-year, $1 billion housing and economic development program.
The Program is designed to produce affordable housing, promote
homeownership, and create good jobs with good wages in construction and
other industries for New Orleans and other coastal communities ravaged by
Hurricane Katrina last year.
"Labor is in solidarity with the citizens of New Orleans," stated
President Sweeney. "We are here to do our part to rebuild and reunite this
great city. I am proud to stand with my brothers and sisters to announce
this very first significant investment by labor in the rebuilding of this
city. We hope business and financial institutions will follow our lead as
they did when we stepped forward after 9/11 in New York City."
"Thousands of our people have been scattered by the wrath of Katrina,"
said Mayor Nagin. "We want them back home and we must provide the
affordable housing, jobs and community services to make that happen. Labor
is stepping forward in a big way to help us make this difficult job an
attainable reality."
Adding to today's announcement, President Sullivan of the Building and
Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO said that his organization is
establishing a Gulf Coast Workforce Development Project to meet the
anticipated demand for skilled workers. It is anticipated that this Project
will create new employment and training opportunities in the construction
industry for Gulf Coast residents. The Project will build a stronger union
presence in the New Orleans and Gulf Coast region, while providing job
skill training for residents wishing to return to the area.
Joining Sweeney, Nagin, Sullivan, Campbell and Coyle in announcing the
Gulf Coast Revitalization Program were AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard
Trumka; AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson; Greater New
Orleans AFL-CIO President Robert "Tiger" Hammond; Southeast Louisiana
Building and Construction Trades Council President Donald Denese and
Executive Secretary Joseph Bertucci; Louisiana AFL-CIO President Louis
Reine; Mike Arnold, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO Investment Trust
Corporation; James R. Kelly, CEO of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New
Orleans; Charlotte Bourgeois, Chief Operating Officer of Catholic Charities
of New Orleans; Phil Thompson, Associate Professor of Urban Politics at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Reed Kroloff, Dean of Tulane School
of Architecture; and Rev. Michael P. Jacques of the Society of St. Edmund,
Pastor of St. Peter Claver Church.
The billion dollar investment initiative will be carried out by three
labor-backed investment and financial service organizations -- the AFL-CIO
Housing Investment Trust (HIT), the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT)
and the AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation (ITC). Both the HIT and BIT
invest Taft-Hartley and public employee pension funds in housing and
economic development projects nationwide to seek competitive returns for
their participants. The ITC provides marketing, investor relations and
investment development services for the BIT. All construction projects
financed by the HIT and BIT are built with 100% union labor.
Key components of the AFL-CIO Gulf Coast Revitalization Program:
* Multifamily Housing: $250 million in direct financing to be provided by
the HIT for the production or rehabilitation of housing. This
significant financial investment will seek to build or renovate 5,000 to
10,000 housing units, both in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast
communities, and is expected to leverage an additional $150 million from
other public and private sources. Special emphasis will be given to
affordable housing, and workforce and special needs housing, as well as
worker training programs in the building and construction trades.
* Commercial and Economic Development: $100 million in direct investment
by the BIT for commercial real estate development in New Orleans and
other Gulf Coast cities. BIT investments will seek to focus on hotels
and other economic development projects that create jobs in construction
and services. These investments are expected to leverage an additional
$150 million. The ITC will also explore the feasibility of alternative
housing solutions, such as manufactured and modular housing.
* Health Care and Hospital Facilities: In conjunction with other partners,
the HIT will seek to invest $100 million in health care facilities and
hospital construction. These investments will help reduce the
significant shortage of health care facilities in the region.
* Homeownership: $250 million will be designated through the HIT's
successful HIT HOME mortgage program to enable union members and public
employees to purchase homes throughout the region. In addition, HIT will
work with local Community Development Corporations on innovative
homeownership programs for low-income families such as limited equity
co-ops and the Section 8 program.
* A Long-term Commitment: Demonstrating its long-term commitment to the
region, the ITC has leased office space at 1100 Poydras Street, Suite
2870, in downtown New Orleans. Experienced staff will work with the
City and other labor, financial and community organizations throughout
the Gulf Coast region to carry out the investment program. Since
September 2005, HIT, BIT and ITC staffs have spent thousands of hours in
the region assessing the critical housing needs of local communities and
developing ties with local governments and community organizations.
Groups working with the AFL-CIO Gulf Coast Revitalization Program to
help make it a success include: Building and Construction Trades
Department, AFL-CIO; Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction
Trades Council, AFL-CIO; Catholic Charities of New Orleans; Enterprise
Community Partners, Inc.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology School
of Urban Studies and Planning; NeighborWorks; Providence Community
Housing; Tulane School of Architecture, and the Resource Foundation.
As part of the commitment to the region, the ITC last week joined with
Providence Community Partners -- a group comprised of the Catholic
Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, Christopher Homes, and three
community development corporations, Reconcile New Orleans, Tulane/Canal
Community Development Corporation and UJAMAA Community Development
Corporation -- to submit a proposal to the City of New Orleans for
redevelopment of 196 abandoned adjudicated properties in Treme and
Tulane/Gravier that are available for single and multifamily development.
"Labor plays a vital role in the social and economic life of our
community," said Tiger Hammond, President of the New Orleans AFL-CIO. "What
Katrina destroyed, we will help to rebuild. Our neighborhoods have been
destroyed, our citizens scattered, but our spirit and resolve are strong.
This is a great program for this city, our communities and our workers."
Hammond mentioned that the local AFL-CIO will also play a role in
supporting the labor sponsored training programs for young people seeking
jobs in the building and construction trades.
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) is a core-plus, fixed-income
investment company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The HIT has over 400 investors and approximately $3.5 billion in assets.
The HIT invests primarily in fixed-income investments such as multifamily
and single family mortgage-backed securities. While the investment
objective of the HIT is to provide competitive returns for its investors,
it also seeks to promote collateral objectives such as the construction of
housing and to facilitate employment for union members in the construction
trades and related industries. The HIT has invested over $5 billion to
finance more than 80,000 units of housing nationwide generating thousands
of union jobs. For more information, visit the AFL-CIO Housing Investment
Trust website at http://www.aflcio-hit.com.
The AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT) is a $2 billion pooled real
estate fund serving pension plans with union member beneficiaries. It is
managed by Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Company, Trustee. The mission
of the BIT is to provide competitive risk-adjusted returns for its
participants through its investments in institutional quality commercial
real estate while promoting economic development and creating union jobs.
Since its inception in 1988, the BIT has helped finance over $2 billion in
real estate development across the United States. For more information,
visit the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust website at
http://www.aflcio-bit.com.
SOURCE AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust
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Related links:
http://www.aflcio-hit.com
http://www.aflcio-bit.com
CONTACT:
Mary Helen Thompson, +1-202-467-2551, or
Kathleen McDonough, Cell: +1-301-512-6338, both of AFL-CIO
Housing Investment Trust
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