Building Positive Impact in Our Communities

With recent economic volatility and housing insecurity, companies including Nixon Peabody LLP and Genesis LA have committed to a positive impact by partnering on important initiatives that address the growing needs of our communities.

Economic conditions often present development challenges and disruptions. However, by teaming with community groups, public agencies, and private organizations, Nixon Peabody has helped devise creative alternative financing to move projects forward. This work is about much more than buildings - it’s about creating spaces where vulnerable people in local communities can feel at home, learn and flourish.

One transformative example is a development underway along the Vermont/Manchester corridor. Nixon Peabody has worked with Genesis LA, the Los Angeles Development Fund, and additional stakeholders to help finance generational change in a South L.A. community blighted since the 1992 civil unrest. These transit-oriented developments (TODs) will serve as a valuable resource for this underserved community.

Building on a decade-plus relationship between Nixon Peabody, Genesis LA and the Los Angeles Development Fund, these projects began in 2021 with key financing combining new markets tax credits (NMTCs) and additional loans totaling approximately $95 million for SEED School of Los Angeles County (SEED LA), the first charter college-prep boarding school in California. SEED LA is part of the first phase of the LA County and LA Metro Vermont Manchester Transit Priority Project, which will transform an underutilized site the size of two city blocks. Welcoming its first class of students in Fall 2022, SEED LA serves approximately 400 at-risk and resilient students from the South L.A. community to provide intensive education. Grades 9-12 curriculum focuses on career readiness in transportation, infrastructure, STEM and the humanities, with mentorships supporting future careers.

More recently, Nixon Peabody represented the Los Angeles Development Fund and Genesis LA, securing $135 million in financing utilizing NMTCs and other debt and equity facilities to fund Evermont, an under-construction development that includes 180 affordable housing units as well as grocery and retail. The site includes the SEED LA school, a transit plaza and a Metro training facility.

Evermont will transform a dirt lot into a community hub with affordable housing. Achieving objectives such as this requires collective buy-in and strategic financing options. We are committed to creating a positive impact in our communities and are proud to be a part of the team that helps move these developments forward in L.A. and beyond.

- Sonia Nayak, L.A. Office Managing Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP