Field Order 15 Fund
A Reparative Lending Program from HomeSight and Black Home Initiative That Helps Black Home Developers Build Affordable Homes
Nearly 160 years after the Civil War General Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Order 15, the fund will facilitate the building of more homes for sale – and help close the racial wealth divide.
HomeSight and Black Home Initiative understand how the affordable housing shortage has impacted the community, and using a community-centric approach, we aim to empower Black developers to help reach the state’s affordable housing construction goals.
Having built affordable homes for 30 years, HomeSight knows what challenges lie ahead for developers, and how Black developers have not traditionally had a seat at the table. By strategically empowering Black developers to overcome the hurdles to new home building, the program offers a grassroots approach to solving the affordable housing shortage and reducing the racial homeownership and wealth gaps in western Washington.
The Field Order 15 Fund assists Black developers who are building affordable homes in the communities that need these resources most. It provides capital for project planning, technical support, and eligibility for low-interest lending.
The program’s upfront grant money provides capital for project planning, which is often the first and most difficult barrier to new home construction.
The HomeSight and Black Home Initiative teams – which include experts in construction lending, fund management, banking, accounting, and real estate development – provide technical support to builders during the planning and pre-development phases using a proprietary checklist system. This detailed plan was developed in collaboration with the underwriting team and HomeSight’s experienced Real Estate Development team to help address and overcome common barriers to success encountered by Black developers.
After completing the feasibility process, developers in the program become eligible for a low-interest pre-development loan. Completion of this stage of the program ensures developers have assembled all the elements needed in a successful loan application for construction financing.
This process bridges the common pitfalls of development and puts developers – and the community – on the road to success.
