Hedge Funds for Habitat-NYC, an initiative by the hedge fund community to provide New York families with a once-in-a-lifetime home ownership opportunity through Habitat for Humanity – New
Hedge Funds for Habitat-NYC, an initiative by the hedge fund community to provide New York families with a once-in-a-lifetime home ownership opportunity through Habitat for Humanity – New York City, has launched a campaign to raise funds for the charitable housing group’s work in the city.
The campaign notably aims to help Habitat-NYC complete its 41-unit affordable condominium buildings on Atlantic Avenue in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn, a USD13m state-of-the art green complex and the largest multifamily complex ever constructed by any member of the global Habitat for Humanity organisation. With the help of an average of 10,000 volunteers every year, Habitat-NYC has already built more than 165 affordable homes in the city’s five boroughs.
Championed by Stuart Feffer, co-chief executive of Lacrosse Global Fund Services, Hedge Funds for Habitat-NYC is calling for support from hedge fund managers, private equity firms and service providers who want to help the city’s many working families living in unsafe and overcrowded conditions whose lives would be changed forever with a Habitat home.
‘Our initial goal is to help Habitat-NYC give 41 families a safe place to live, the opportunity to realize their dreams of home ownership and the ability to secure their future,’ Feffer says. ‘Hedge fund professionals know that investing in human capital is key to the success of our industry – and our city. Safe, decent and affordable homes will help New York’s working families to thrive, which helps all of us to flourish.’
Josh Lockwood, acting executive director of Habitat-NYC, says: ‘Habitat-NYC is proud to partner with Stuart Feffer, LaCrosse Global Fund Services and New York’s hedge fund industry. This collaboration unites hedge fund leaders, among the city’s most innovative thinkers and doers, with an innovative housing initiative that addresses one of our most pressing problems.’
Under the scheme, future homeowner families work alongside volunteers to construct their own simple, decent and affordable homes. The Hedge Funds for Habitat campaign will help underwrite the recruitment, selection and financial literacy training of the 41 first-time homebuyers and help enable Habitat-NYC to complete the ‘green’ condominiums.
The four-story building is located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway and will accommodate one- to three-bedroom apartments. Volunteers began working on the complex in September and completion is expected in 2009.
Designed by Dattner Architects, the construction includes energy-efficient and environmentally friendly materials and design. The complex is expected to qualify for a LEED rating, which will allow the homeowners to save up to 30 percent on their energy bills and raise their families in a healthy home.
To contact Hedge Funds for Habitat or make a donation to the appeal, supporters are invited to call +1 212 991 4000 extension 330 or visit http://www.habitatnyc.org/hedgefundsforhabitatnyc to learn more or make a secure online gift.
LaCrosse Global Fund Services is a provider of operations, middle-office and administration services to managers of complex hedge funds and has more than 200 employees at offices in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Istanbul, London, Minneapolis, Moscow, New York, São Paulo and Singapore.
Starting life as a spinout of the middle- and back-office operations that had supported Black River Asset Management and its predecessor, Cargill Global Capital Markets, LaCrosse is now an independently managed subsidiary of Cargill providing services to the alternative investment industry. The firm has USD13bn of assets under administration in strategies covering global equities, fixed income, commodities, currencies, emerging markets and related derivatives.
