LISC NY closes $5 million pre-development loan with SHIFT Capital for 95-acre SouthWorks project

Ithaca, NY LISC NY closed a $5 million construction and permanent loan with SHIFT Capital to support the initial development costs for SouthWorks, a redevelopment of the 95-acre former Emerson Power/Morse Chain facility site. The loan will help kickstart the $600 million project, which will create 915 mixed-income homes, and 800,000 s/f of commercial space.

Located at 620 South Aurora St. the project will leverage adaptive reuse and new construction to repurpose the historically significant site into a destination neighborhood, providing much needed housing, space for a diversity of businesses, and public green space just blocks from downtown. The overall project is also expected to create more than 3,000 construction jobs and 2,300 permanent jobs.

The loan from LISC will take out existing financing, cover hard costs associated with sitework and remediation, soft costs, financing costs, and carrying costs. This funding will push the new neighborhood forward across the 95-acre campus and contribute to timely project completion.

“Ithaca is one of Central New York’s great hubs for culture, history, recreation, and education and embodies so many of the wonderful attributes of our upstate communities,” said Valerie White, senior executive director of LISC NY. “We are proud to support this project that will not only rejuvenate this site but also expand on the city’s downtown area with the addition of more housing, manufacturing, recreation, and retail that maintain the historic charm.”     

“LISC is a great partner for complex, mission-driven work, and we’re thrilled to have them on the team at SouthWorks,” said Brian Murray, CEO of Shift Capital. “This is a special project that has the opportunity to deliver community benefits in the form of affordable housing, green infrastructure, and the adaptive reuse of a valuable historic resource.”