Vermont Business Magazine Evernorth closed its second multi-investor fund - Housing New England, Fund II – on January 29, 2021.  This fund will provide equity to finance affordable housing in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. 

19 investors committed a total of $60.7 million in equity making Housing New England, Fund II (HNE Fund II) a significant financial resource for the region’s critical affordable housing needs. HNE Fund II’s investors include community, regional and national banks as well as a one of the nation’s largest mortgage banking organizations.

“We raised capital from a wide-range of investors and new partners enabling us to expand our reach to preserve and create much-needed affordable housing in these unprecedented times,” said Nancy Owens, Co-President, Evernorth.

Evernorth raises equity by syndicating federal Low Income Housing and Historic tax credits as well as various state, historic, and affordable housing credits.  “In addition to a reliable return on their investments, the community banks and the regional and national companies that have invested with the Housing New England, Fund II will help to build or renovate tangible, long-lasting affordable housing resources throughout northern New England,” said Bill Shanahan, Co-President, Evernorth.

All of the developments that are receiving funding from Housing New England, Fund II have been identified, and 10 are in construction.  Two of the first properties closed into the fund, one in St Albans, Vermont the other in Livermore Falls, Maine, have begun leasing. In all, the fund will invest in 18 total developments, with 9 in Maine, 3 in New Hampshire and 6 in Vermont, creating 744 affordable apartments.

The need for affordable housing in all three states remains strong.  Evernorth has a pipeline of high-quality community developments which need financing and so will be unveiling another investment fund – Housing New England, Fund III –  in the spring.

In January 2020, Evernorth closed its first joint fund, Housing New England, Fund I, a joint venture of Housing Vermont (HV) and Northern New England Housing Investment Fund (NNEHIF) with $64.5M deployed across the three states.

That successful collaboration was the first step toward the merger which created Evernorth in July 2020.  Through the merger, Evernorth is raising more capital for affordable housing, creating operating efficiencies by providing a geographically diverse investment offering and lowering their costs of syndication.  As members of the National Association of State and Local Equity Funds, the two organizations had worked closely together for many years.

Evernorth is a nonprofit organization that unites Housing Vermont (HV) and Northern New England Housing Investment Fund (NNEHIF) to provide affordable housing and community investments in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In its combined 30-year history, Evernorth has raised and deployed over $1 billion in equity capital for affordable housing and built more than 13,000 affordable homes for low- and moderate-income people across northern New England. www.evernorthus.org