Loans

As a financial intermediary, LISC envisions a future where all Kansas City urban neighborhoods thrive and grow. By providing financial tools, LISC jumpstarts entrepreneurial projects, infuses capital into neighborhoods and creates economic opportunities. 

We are dedicated to striking a balance between risk management and the philanthropic role of a charitable lender. Our lending efforts support projects and programs that, in most cases, would not happen without LISC investment.  As such, LISC's financing projects have directly financed community development projects and helped CDCs leverage millions of dollars in additional funding that may have been difficult to obtain otherwise.

Since 1981, LISC has approved over $108 million in loans and 
equity investments in the Kansas City area - which has attracted another 
$476 million in additional investment.

We provide the experience and skill needed to raise resources that can address the financial gaps often associated with investment in urban-core neighborhoods. Qualified nonprofit partners and for-profit developers can apply for a full range of financial products to cover the various stages of the commercial and residential development process including:

• Pre-development loans, including feasibility studies 
• Acquisition loans
• Construction loans
• Permanent financing
• Equity and intermediary capital loans
• Revolving working capital loans
• Lines of credit
• Bridge Loans

Loans can range from $50,000 to over $2 million and are intended to be short-term (usually less than three years, paid back at the time of permanent financing) and market-competitive. They do not take the place of traditional financial facilities, such as those offered by private banks.  Rather, they cover the high-risk portion of a project – the predevelopment stage of a project in a low-income community – that most lenders are unable to finance due to their underwriting thresholds.  Sometimes LISC funds are used to complement a bank commitment by taking a second or tertiary position. Although most LISC loans are real estate related, there are a few made as lines of credit to assist client organizations in their cash flow.

Greater Kansas City LISC can also provide technical and financial assistance in specialized areas of expertise through National LISC in the following areas:

• Childcare facility projects
• Charter and alternative school facility projects
• Renovation/new construction of community football fields through the NFL Grassroots Program
• Housing preservation projects
• Public housing projects

To inquire about financing, please contact Chris Vukas, Senior Program Officer for Lending & Underwriting at Greater Kansas City LISC.