Community Preservation Corporation (CPC)
CPC was founded in 1974 as a direct response to the chronic issues of property abandonment and blight facing New York City’s neighborhoods and its multifamily housing stock. Uniquely, CPC was created to be a self-sustaining nonprofit that did not rely on charitable support. CPC started with a revolving pool of funding for short-term construction loans to finance building improvements, and a second pool to replenish the revolver by replacing the construction loans with long-term mortgages. Revenue would be generated through origination and servicing fees, which would allow for financial independence.
Since its founding five decades ago, CPC has invested over $15 billion to finance the creation and preservation of more than 230,000 units of affordable and workforce housing and is an equity investor with approximately 4,500 affordable units under ownership. Throughout its history it has continued to bring innovation to its mission of investing in the housing needs of underserved communities.
In the 1980s, CPC spearheaded the creation of the Public Private Apartment Rehabilitation program, with substantial loan purchase commitments from the New York City Police Pension Fund and the New York City Employees’ Retirement System. It was the first time any public pension fund in the country had invested in upgrading housing. This innovative model was later replicated with the New York State pension fund.
In the 1990s CPC built on its successes, taking its unique expertise and business model into every region across the state of New York. With offices in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and the Hudson Valley, CPC created new public and private partnerships to transform former factories, theaters, and manufacturing centers into anchors of housing and commerce, revitalizing Upstate New York’s historic downtowns and city centers.
Located in the southeast Bronx and created as middle-income rental housing, Parkchester was the largest privately planned community in America when it was built in 1942, but by 1995 the complex was in dire straits. CPC joined two partners to acquire 6,360+ unsold units, retail space, and garages. Completed in 2005, the $250 million revitalization of Parkchester’s 171 buildings, 12,271-residential units, and 500,000 square-feet of retail space was the largest ever in the country at the time.
Following Hurricane Sandy in October of 2012, New York City designated CPC to administer its disaster recovery funding under the Build it Back Multifamily Program. Likewise, New York State selected CPC to run the SPARC program in 2015 to restore and create affordable housing in upstate communities impacted by a host of storms. When COVID-19 hit in early 2020, CPC was asked to administer financial relief through the small buildings program under the New York Forward Loan Fund, as well as the Surge Staffing Loan Program which filled a funding gap at New York City safety net hospitals.
Today, CPC uses its unique expertise in housing finance and public policy to expand access to affordable and workforce housing, advance diversity and equity within the development industry, and expand investment in the green economy and lessen the impact of climate change.
This includes the creation of CPC Mortgage Company in 2019 with its mission to provide flexible Agency mortgage capital in communities to expand and preserve affordable and workforce housing nationwide. In 2020 CPC launched the ACCESS initiative to provide financial resources and capacity building opportunities to BIPOC real estate entrepreneurs, with the goal of promoting and enabling greater racial diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry.
In 2024, CPC entered its 50th year on the heels of several significant milestones. In April, Climate United, a coalition of three nonprofit organizations including CPC, was the recipient of a $7 billion award from the EPA’s National Clean Investment Fund. CPC leads the coalition’s multifamily market strategy through the deployment of targeted investments to decarbonize multifamily housing nationwide. In December 2023, as managing member of Community Stabilization Partners, CPC was chosen by the FDIC to service and asset manage $5.8 billion in loans, encompassing nearly 35,000 units of rent stabilized multifamily housing from the former Signature Bank portfolio.
CPC’s ability to create a positive impact in communities is rooted in its spirit of innovation and collaboration, and it is well positioned to continue to grow and serve the needs of communities for the next 50 years and beyond.
