CAPC was designed to acquire pools of nonperforming residential mortgages or foreclosed, real estate owned residential property in low- to moderate-income communities. The initial goal of the organization was to recover up to 500 living units in the first five to seven years.
CAPC was created out of a large-scale foreclosure mitigation initiative begun by Housing and Neighborhood Development Services Inc. (HANDS). Operation Neighborhood Recovery (ONR) created the vision and secured the financing to purchase 47 properties throughout Essex County. Since purchasing properties in March 2009, almost 90 percent of the 47 units have been returned to active use as quality affordable rental or for sale housing. Of the 47 units, 32 were sold to CDCs or mission-based for-profit entities and nine were rehabbed by CAPC and HANDS.
In late 2009, as the work with HANDS on ONR progressed, CAPC began merger discussions with New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC). NJCC had been the leading funder of ONR and had been providing funding for similar community investment for more than 20 years. Aligning with NJCC gave CAPC a statewide reach, a robust balance sheet, and existing relationships with many public, private, and nonprofit organizations.
CAPC’s core line of business is the acquisition and rehabilitation of vacant, abandoned, and foreclosed residential properties. Over the past several years, CAPC has developed sub business lines to vertically integrate its business model in an effort to diversify and guard against shifts in the real estate market:
CAPC has since become one of New Jersey’s largest nonprofit real estate developers, and it now works with dozens of local partners statewide to create hundreds of affordable new for-sale and rental homes. 496 housing units have been completed from 2009 – 2017, with 126 completed in 2017 alone.
CAPC FLORIDA
CAPC’s mission is to stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosure. Florida is still second in the US in foreclosure activity. CAPC’s goal is to mitigate the negative impacts of foreclosure on neighborhoods. CAPC believes that healthy thriving communities are built on strong neighborhoods that house people from a range of income brackets. As a result, CAPC has been working with NJCC and National Community Capital to convert vacant, REO-properties in the Tampa + St. Petersburg areas to quality, affordable housing. CAPC is buying properties directly through the National Community Capital program and is working with a local non-profit organization to complete the needed rehab. The construction company is owned by Uno Federation, which is a non-profit affiliate entity of UNO Asset Management & Consulting, LLC and Housing Services of Central Florida. The labors and subcontractors are almost all 100 percent minority owned. UNO Federation hires approximately 2 low-skill/low-income apprentices on each work crew. These individuals learn constructions skills, which are highly desirable in the Tampa areas.