Who We Serve

Chicago Development Fund invests in organizations, businesses, and projects that produce significant positive impacts for Low-Income Communities and Low-Income Persons within the City. These impacts are measured by such criteria as job creation, increased wages, opportunities for training and advancement, sustainability outcomes, minority business opportunities, and enhanced access to healthy foods, medical care, education, or other services. CDF exclusively finances projects where the additional capital generated by the NMTC will directly fund new investment that would not have been likely to occur without NMTC financing.

PROJECT TYPES

Business/Industrial Expansion
Business/industrial expansion projects supporting creation and retention of high-quality jobs in distressed communities by launching new business ventures or helping established companies to expand and modernize within Chicago.

Community Facilities
Community facility projects are nonprofit‐sponsored delivering vital services, such as healthcare, recreation, and job‐training to low‐income persons.

Grocery-Anchored Retail
Grocery‐anchored retail located in, or clearly positioned to serve, USDA “Food Deserts” or other areas that are demonstrably underserved with healthy food options. CDF will also consider non-retail projects that enhance healthy food access for underserved people.

PROJECT FEATURES

Location
Projects located in qualified census tracts that are on Chicago’s South and West Sides.

Environmentally Sustainable
Innovative projects where the primary focus is sustainability, including renewable energy and urban agriculture.