Arlington, VA (October 30, 2023) – Rochdale Capital, a community development loan fund whose mission is to promote cooperative and community ownership; advance equity, diversity, and inclusion; and provide capital access in under-resourced communities, recently closed a $499,600 loan participation to finance the purchase of two commercial shopping centers located in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, to convert to cooperative ownership.
Two Black women-led organizations, Ignite Business Women Investment Group (IBWIG) and the African Career, Education and Resource, Inc. (ACER) will own and operate the property and create an affordable tenant-owned cooperative for 27 black, immigrant small businesswomen to serve the local community.
Rochdale Capital partnered with Shared Capital Cooperative, a national community development financial institution based in the Twin Cities that focuses on co-op development, and Sunrise Bank on this transaction.
“Cooperative ownership will give the members of IBWIG Cooperative stability and control over their businesses after years of facing discrimination and mistreatment from landlords. Replacing those landlords with a cooperative ownership model will allow the business owners to set their own priorities balancing opportunities for wealth creation, growth, and affordability,” said Mark Fick, Senior Loan Officer of Shared Capital Cooperative. “Shared Capital is pleased to bring our financing and technical assistance resources to the table in support of their cooperative vision.”
“Rochdale Capital is very proud to have the opportunity to work with Shared Capital Cooperative on this transaction,” stated Kladé Hare Nersasian, Chief Lending officer of Rochdale Capital. “Brooklyns Cultural Village Center will create a sustainable, culture wealth building model for small businesses in communities of color which in the past have been vulnerable to displacement as commercial property prices rise in areas primed for development.”
