HRIF wins QLICI Award for JJK FAN Center
East St. Louis project wins Metro award
Heartland Regional Investment Fund, LLC (HRIF), a subsidiary of St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (STL Partnership), has won a Qualified Low-Income Community Investments (QLICI) award from Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. The metro award, which is given to community development entities that made exceptional qualified low-income community investments (QLICIs) in the past year in a metropolitan area, was given to the group for the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Innovation Center (JJK FAN) project in East St. Louis, Ill.
The JJK FAN project was made possible by a $12 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from HRIF. The JJK FAN Center has partnered with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Lansdowne UP and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to serve over 15,000 people annually in a more than 70-acre facility. The facility’s expansion aims to be completed by the fall of 2025.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund gives tax credits to Community Development Entities (CDEs), such as HRIF, to provide loans and investments to businesses in low-income communities. HRIF provides financing to projects in distressed communities by the managing members—the City of St. Charles, Southwest Illinois Development Authority and STL Partnership. Eligible areas HRIF serves are St. Louis and St. Charles Counties in Missouri, plus Bond, Clinton, Madison and St. Clair Counties in Illinois.
To learn more about the winning submission, click here.
The Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center
