Affordable Housing

Keeping Neighbors in the Neighborhood

CFE provides loans for low- and moderate-income housing, mixed-use projects with a residential component, and market-rate housing located in communities where its development will have a lasting, positive impact. We are committed to making housing more affordable through the creation, rehabilitation, and preservation of the following:

  • Rental housing
  • For-sale housing developments
  • Limited equity cooperatives
  • Supportive housing for residents with special needs

Our core business is buildings with between 5 and 50 units, as it is an underserved segment of the affordable housing market, but we also finance larger developments. Additionally, we work closely with green energy partners to retrofit existing affordable housing for energy efficiency and to incorporate renewable energy sources into new projects.

An additional 374,000 housing units, 40% of which should be affordable to low- and middle-income households, are needed by 2030 to match the projected growth in the Greater Washington Area.

Urban Institute

This Is CFE: Housing for All

With CFE lending capital, the nonprofit Wesley Housing Development Corporation was able to refinance an existing Northern Virginia property that features 63 affordable units, providing homes to about 165 community members. The savings from the refinance allowed the borrower to pursue a separate, adjoining deal, which then led to the creation of 97 additional affordable units. Rent pressures are intensifying with the arrival of Amazon’s HQ2 in the area, and CFE remains committed to finding ways to expand the inventory of affordable housing.