About UDF

Urban Development Fund’s mission is to provide loans and equity to fund real estate development in the nation’s most disadvantaged communities. Developers and businesses in these highly distressed communities struggle to get any financing at all. Through the use of the NMTC Program, UDF is able to provide financing at rates and terms that are very advantageous to its borrowers.

In fulfilling this mission, UDF has been successful in creating stable employment opportunities and construction jobs for residents of low-income communities, renovating decaying or dilapidated structures, providing much needed goods and services, and spurring economic development in low-income neighborhoods where it is needed most. The philosophy of understanding projects not as just real estate investments but as engines of economic growth and social support for local communities is at the heart of UDF’s mission.

Featured Project

PBS39 at Steelstacks

The Project

The PBS39 at SteelStacks project is being undertaken by PBS39 Foundation and the Lehigh Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation to construct a Public Media and Education Center on the redeveloped Bethlehem Plant of the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation. This site is the nation’s largest Brownfield, located in a severely economically distressed census tract in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The PBS39-Steelstacks Public Media and Education Center will be the new home of the regional PBS affiliate, PBS39 (aka Lehigh Valley Public Television). The station will feature a 100 seat television studio to host live community discussions and forums, both on and off air. These forums will bring in people from the local low income communities to allow for more open exchange of ideas and opportunities for outreach and education. The new Public Media and Education Center will provide PBS39 the opportunity to expand its educational outreach, enhance the cultural offerings in the SteelStacks Campus, relocate (and add) jobs to the Bethlehem Keystone Innovation Zone, and attract new entities to do business in this highly distressed economic area.
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Featured Project

Clemens Center

The Project

The Clemens Center, which has been in operation since 1977, is operated by Chemung County Performing Arts Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation located in Elmira, New York. The Clemens Center consists of the Powers Theater, a 1,608-seat proscenium theater, and Mandeville Hall, a 200-seat black box theater.

Since the Clemens Center opened in 1977, the industry standard for stage depth has changed, as has standards for work areas, dressing rooms and technology. Current shows have specific facilities requirements. The ability to continue to book these large-scale theatrical productions is crucial to the Clemens Center’s future economic stability but is dependent on the stage expansion and technical upgrades of the project.

The project qualifies for historic rehabilitation tax credits, but requires the further subsidy of the NMTC financing in order to complete the required upgrades. Without the financing and the necessary upgrades the center could be forced to close, eliminating a vital center for arts and cultural events in the community. Read the rest

Contact UDF

Michael Qualizza

(847) 748-8331