“We deploy fixed income to underwrite the costs of constructing affordable housing, schools and daycare centers,” said Rivers. “We provide commercial development dollars so that developers can build projects that involve job creation to revitalize the economy of a certain neighborhood.”
Started with just $3,500 with a focus on just the Boston area, the organization has since invested in projects in California, Florida and many other states. “Our investors are extremely happy with their investment,” said Cherry. “We know this because they tell us and most of the time they reinvest.”
BlueHub Capital’s minimum investment requirement is only $1,000, with investment dollars coming largely from a mix of wealthy individuals, family offices and faith based organizations that want to put their endowment dollars in a vehicle that will improve society. The firm also gets investments from foundations, including the Kresge Foundation.
The organization's main fund, the BlueHub Loan Fund, has $100 million in assets, and the Stabilizing Urban Neighborhoods (SUN) Initiative, which focuses on foreclosure prevention efforets, has $45 million in investment capital.
“For advisors whose clients are interested in investing a portion of their portfolio for fixed-income investments at market rate and in those investments having a substantial social impact, we’re a great choice,” said Cherry. “We negotiate from 3 percent on up depending on the size of the investment and the term and in the 30 years we’ve been taking people's money, we've never lost a dime.”