The real estate company and social impact investment manager says it will be the first of a series of transformative ventures focused on empowering underserved communities across the U.S.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., and WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Aug. 2, 2021 – Rethink Community, a New York-based real estate development company and social impact investment manager focused on empowering underserved communities in major urban areas throughout the United States, has acquired 21 acres for its first project: Rethink Community – Nashville. The transaction closed June 18.
The Nashville project site is contiguous to Dickerson Pike in East Nashville, two miles north of the central business district and within a half mile of the site of Oracle Corp’s newly announced plans for a 65-acre campus.
Rethink Community initially will develop the site with the necessary horizontal infrastructure to complete a workforce housing plan that includes multi-family rental units, for-sale town homes and lofts, and neighborhood retail. The new project will have unobstructed views of downtown Nashville and include a 1-acre public park for the community.
“We are excited about how Nashville personifies the Rethink platform’s mission around holistic and inclusive communities,” says Michael Walden, President & COO of Rethink Capital Partners, the impact investment platform that houses Rethink Community. “We are proud of the work we are undertaking to support this community and to help create a strong and vibrant neighborhood.” Following the acquisition, Rethink Community will continue to engage local community members to identify areas of need in the neighborhood where Rethink Community can leverage its resources and network to address. Rethink Community is committed to being a long-standing part of each community it invests in and believes it is crucial to look beyond the four corners of its development in order to deliver the programs and services that are important to supporting healthy communities.
Rethink Community is a real estate investment and development company with a foundational belief that broad sustainable change is best achieved when it originates in healthy, livable communities. Rethink Community focuses on four primary areas that it believes lead to the development of healthy communities: 1) quality and accessible housing, 2) strong opportunities for education, 3) access healthcare and 4) opportunities for economic mobility and commerce.
The Rethink Community team believes its Nashville development represents an incredible opportunity to collaborate with the local community to deliver on these core areas. As noted above, this project represents the initial investment within Rethink Community and its strategy is to fund further large-scale, high impact development projects, including a pipeline of opportunities in Atlanta G.A.; Cleveland O.H.; Durham, N.C.; and Portland, Ore., among others.
Rethink Community is one of four strategies on the Rethink Capital Partners platform – a division within Seavest Investment Group that oversees and facilitates the development of impact investment strategies. Rethink Capital Partners is guiding investments rethinking the role private capital plays in helping address systemic inequality and injustice, while seeking to deliver competitive returns.
BlackBirch Capital acted as exclusive advisor to Rethink Community on this capital raise.
About Rethink Community and Rethink Capital Partners
Rethink Community is an impact investment vehicle working with local partners to create the critically needed workforce housing and services for families in underserved communities. Our capital is invested, and our projects are designed with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside attractive financial returns. Rethink Community is a strategy within Rethink Capital Partners, the impact investment platform within Seavest Investment Group that oversees and facilitates the development of a suite of impact investment strategies. These focus on financial and social returns including gender equity, education, health, environmental sustainability, economic empowerment and community development. To date, Rethink Capital has launched Rethink Education, Rethink Impact, Rethink Food and Rethink Community. For more information, please visit www.rethink.vc/community.
About Seavest Investment Group
An investment-management firm which focuses on industries undergoing transformation to create long-term value for its investors, generate positive human impact and benefit society as a whole. Currently the firm has two investment platforms investing real estate and venture capital. For more information, please visit www.seavestinc.com.
About BlackBirch Capital
BlackBirch Capital is an investment bank specializing in innovating capital solutions across the real estate asset class. BlackBirch offers specialist advice and capital raising services for real estate companies, fund sponsors and other operators who are seeking to sustain or accelerate their growth trajectories. The firm provides a wide range of advisory services including private placements and fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and restructuring advice. For more information, please visit www.blackbirchcapital.io.