Jimmie Lee Smith smiles proudly as he looks across rows of seats in the Neighborhood Flix Cinema & Café. The family-owned business opened its doors in November 2007, giving Denver movie goers an upscale “dinner and a movie” experience. The art house has three theatres plus posh amenities like a café that serves health conscious food and a full-service bar. Located on East Colfax, next to the new Tattered Cover and Twist & Shout, Neighborhood Flix is one of several commercial developments revitalizing Colfax.
Neighborhood Flix is also one of many projects that received financing through Seedco Financial, a national nonprofit with $200 million in assets.
Seedco Financial provides financing to small businesses, nonprofits and anchor commercial real estate projects in distressed areas. Its corporate office is based in New York City and it has five regional offices, all of which are located on the East Coast and in the South, except for its new office in Denver, which opened in June 2007.
The local office is operating out of donated office space in the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority building at 20th and Blake. At the helm, is Peter Chapman, executive director of the Denver office, who says Seedco Financial has approved almost $7 million in deals in Denver in its first year.
Chapman, 43, has over 20 years experience working in urban policy. Most recently, he served as Mayor Hickenlooper’s economic development policy advisor. He oversaw a large portfolio of City and quasi-municipal agencies such as the Office of Economic Development, the Denver Housing Authority and the Office of Cultural Affairs. He also has experience in real estate and policy.
Now at Seedco Financial, Chapman works on the financing aspect of urban revitalization projects.
“Urban revitalization is affecting change in a way that will benefit the neighborhoods and people,” explains Chapman. “We provide affordable financing in support of small business projects and real estate projects, be they commercial or residential or nonprofit that will benefit low to moderate income people and neighborhoods.”
Seedco Financial lends money at competitive interest rates to projects that need gap funding or full-financing.
The nonprofit, under Chapman’s leadership, aims to impact Denver’s most impoverished areas by financing projects that target infrastructure improvements, small business, affordable housing and commercial real estate, and people. The lender has identified seven priority neighborhoods: Five Points, Montbello, Clayton, Lincoln Park, Sun Valley, West Colfax and Villa Park, and three priority corridors: Colfax, Federal Boulevard and Brighton Boulevard for funding projects.
Chapman says Neighborhood Flix was a prime project because of its priority corridor location on Colfax and because it was also an art-related business (an emerging financing area for Seedco) and a minority-owned business.
“Peter was instrumental in getting the deal done,” says Smith, who explains that Seedco Financial helped fund the last piece of Neighborhood Flix’s business – the equipment and a small portion of operating capital. “Because it’s a start up and a brand new concept, it was sometimes difficult to sell to traditional lending institutions.”
“We can take a level of risk that other lenders, such as banks, can’t take to help fill the gap,” says Chapman. “We do however work with everyone on an individual basis and do a custom analysis. It is a very calculated risk, but we have a very low loss rate.”
Seedco Financial is a direct lender but does not provide retail lending (financing for individual homebuyers). Chapman says interest rates are competitive, ranging from 5 to 8 percent on amounts typically ranging from $50,000 to up to $6 million dollars.
He also estimates half of the projects they fund are real estate and the other half are small business start up and expansion capital. Chapman says 80 percent of jobs in the Denver economy are created by small businesses, 20 percent higher than the national percentage.
Across town, on the other side of Interstate 25, the River Clay Condominiums in Jefferson Park are under construction. The project borders the Sun Valley neighborhood, which Chapman says has a 72 percent poverty rate. He’s excited because the condos are a mixed income project that will also provide housing to lower to moderate income people and will include retail space.
“Our goal is that neighborhoods will have affordable housing and a commercial infrastructure,” says Chapman. “That includes small businesses that provide the community with basic affordable goods and services and create job opportunities in the neighborhoods.”
Another project Chapman’s office funded is Inner City Health Center, located at 34th and Downing. The nonprofit provides health services to low-income and medically uninsured families.
When reflecting on these three and many other Seedco Financial projects financed in whole or in part, Chapman concludes, “Seedco Financial is about access to opportunity - to start and run your own business, to live in a safe, healthy and economically viable neighborhood.”
Editor's Note: For more information about Seedco Financial in Denver, call 303-297-7474.
Andrea Juarez is a Denver-based freelance writer and editor. She writes about history, culture, business and health, and was a recipient of the Colorado Association of Black Journalists’ Scribes in Excellence Award in 2007. She can be reached by email at andrea.m.juarez@gmail.com.
