SAN DIEGO – June 2, 2006 – U. S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral will visit San Diego on Friday to announce $327 million in tax credits awarded to California organizations under the 2006 round of New Markets Tax Credits.  The announcement will be made at Market Creek Plaza, a vibrant illustration of the impact of the New Markets Tax Credit program can have on communities that have endured decades of under-investment.

The NMTC Program attracts private-sector capital investment into the nation's urban and rural low-income areas to help finance community development projects, stimulate economic growth and create jobs.

The 10-acre, $23.5 million Market Creek Plaza and the 75,000-sq. ft, $23.5 million Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center (currently under construction) have received a total of $30 million in investments as a result of the New Markets Tax Credit program.

Market Creek Plaza was planned, designed, built, leased, and is now operated by teams of more than 3,000 residents working in partnership with the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (JCNI).  JCNI is a non-profit foundation dedicated to the belief that residents must own and drive the change that takes place in their community for it to be meaningful and long-lasting.

Funding for the Plaza was a result of a groundbreaking, public-private partnership, which included a $15 million NMTC loan from Clearinghouse CDFI through Wells Fargo Bank with the help of the California Southern Small Business Development Corporation. The low interest rates of the NMTC loans make it possible to fund twice as much community development work and keep more money in the community.

That partnership also made possible the next step in resident ownership of Market Creek Plaza.   Launching in June is a groundbreaking Community Development Initial Public Offering (IPO), which will give Diamond neighborhood residents a chance to truly “Own a Piece of the Block.”  The Community Development IPO opens the opportunity for community residents to purchase ownership units in Market Creek Plaza, LLC, the Plaza’s owner.

Before the Plaza, the Diamond neighborhoods experienced $60 million in economic leakage annually.  In 2005, Market Creek Plaza recaptured $24.4 million of that leakage.  The Plaza includes a mix of 11 national and local businesses (several owned by local entrepreneurs) that bring essential goods and services to the area, including the first major grocery store in the community in 30 years.  The Plaza’s businesses opened more than 170 jobs, with many held by local residents.  It is also home to one of San Diego’s largest collections of public multicultural art, and a beautiful, outdoor amphitheater, which has hosted numerous cultural events.

Additionally, Clearinghouse CDFI received an investment from U. S. Bank and Commercial Capital Bank to commit another $15 million NMTC loan to fund construction of the $23.5 million Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center, located on the site adjacent Market Creek Plaza. The Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center is planned as a 75,000-sq. ft., three-story building housing a cultural training kitchen, a state-of-the-art meeting and conference center, accessible community and office space, a showplace for public art, a neighborhood gathering place, and the headquarters for JCNI.

“It’s an honor and credit to residents of the Diamond neighborhoods that the U.S. Department of Treasury has selected Market Creek Plaza as a backdrop for this important announcement,” said Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation CEO Jennifer Vanica. “The resident collaboration and funding partners in Market Creek Plaza are a prime example of how public-private partnerships can build long-lasting community revitalization. “

Established by Congress in December 2000, the New Markets Tax Credit Program provides individual and corporate taxpayers with a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments.  With a low interest rate, the program attracts private-sector capital investment into the nation’s urban and rural low-income areas to help finance community development projects, stimulate economic growth and create jobs in underserved markets traditionally considered by lending institutions as high-risk.