Looking to scale their affordable housing work in the DMV region, Banneker Ventures turned to LIIF for flexible catalytic capital, with our organization offering a low-interest $2 million unsecured predevelopment line of credit for multiple projects. On June 13, LIIF Executive Vice President and General Counsel Denise Noel was invited to speak at the groundbreaking for one of these projects, Park Place at Addison Road Metro in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Park Place will comprise 193 residential units, at an average Area Median Income (AMI) of 58%, plus 12,000 square feet of retail space. Project details.
Elected officials who spoke about this project’s impact included Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, who are both advocates for affordable housing.
Watch WUSA9 video clip.
Denise Noel’s Speech
My name is Denise Noel, and I’m proud to serve as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Low Income Investment Fund — or LIIF.
LIIF is a national community development financial institution, founded in 1984. Since then, we’ve invested $3.8 billion to support more than 2.6 million people in communities across the country.
Park Place at Addison Road Metro is exactly the kind of project we’re proud and excited to support. Affordable housing. Connected to transit. Strengthening a community.
I want to thank Sen. Angela Alsobrooks for her unwavering commitment to housing justice. Your leadership and advocacy are ensuring every Maryland family has access to safe, affordable homes. Your work to secure federal investments is driving down housing costs, expanding local supply and unlocking opportunity. Your voice on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee is powerful, and essential — helping to deliver the capital communities need to meet our country’s urgent housing challenges head-on. Authorization and funding for the important CDFI Fund continues, as it is a critical way to leverage private investment in undercapitalized communities. Next month, the committee will be considering major housing legislation around the importance of preservation and expansion of affordable housing supply in the housing bill on which that committee will be working.
Thank you as well to Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland for making affordable housing a cornerstone of your administration. Your Housing and Community Development Financing Act strengthens tools such as the New Markets Tax Credit — a resource on which LIIF relies to expand housing affordability. Your Housing Expansion and Affordability Act is helping tackle the root of the issue: housing supply. And your decision to direct more than $117 million to priority housing and community development investments speaks volumes about your vision and your values.
We’re here today because our investment in Banneker Ventures reflects our shared goal: to create opportunity-rich communities like this one in Capitol Heights.
We are proud to work with Omar Karim and Banneker Ventures — a partner delivering high-impact projects with deep community value. That’s why LIIF extended a $2 million unsecured predevelopment line of credit — our first, but not our last. In fact, we’re actively exploring how we can continue investing in Banneker Ventures and the future they’re building.
This support came through a LIIF Special Purpose Credit Program designed to close capital gaps for Black developers working in historically disinvested communities. Through BDCI, we offer early-stage financing at favorable rates — backing proven developers with capital to scale their impact.
We believe in Banneker Ventures, and we’re proud to be a partner as they build opportunity-rich communities across the DMV.
To the Banneker team: congratulations. You are showing what’s possible when capital, vision, and community come together.
LIIF is honored to stand beside you, and we look forward to more milestones like this one — moments that remind us why we do the work, and who we do it for.
Thank you as well to Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland for making affordable housing a cornerstone of your administration. Your Housing and Community Development Financing Act strengthens tools such as the New Markets Tax Credit — a resource on which LIIF relies to expand housing affordability.
LIIF Executive Vice President and General Counsel Denise Noel (photo above, left, with Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland)