Indiana-Based Jumpstart Program Builds on Cinnaire’s Commitment to Expand Access to Economic Opportunity

Cinnaire and Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation (MBCDC) recently joined forces to launch Jumpstart Martindale Brightwood, a program designed to help Martindale Brightwood residents become developers of their own neighborhoods through quality, community-focused real estate development training and financing options. The program follows in the footsteps of Jumpstart Wilmington, a program launched in 2020 by Dionna Sargent, Cinnaire Vice President of Community Development, who was inspired by the original Jumpstart Germantown Program.

The Jumpstart program is one component of Cinnaire’s initiatives designed to increase local developer capacity, build wealth locally, and reduce blight. Increased local developer capacity is essential to scaling development activity and revitalizing communities more rapidly. The Commercial Real Estate Diversity Report found the industry to be one of the least diverse in the United States. Cinnaire is committed to supporting programs focused on increasing the number of diverse owners and leaders in the commercial real estate industry.

Cinnaire partnered with MBCDC to launch Jumpstart Martindale Brightwood. MBCDC was founded in 1992 to address the challenges and needs of residents living in distressed neighborhoods just northeast of downtown Indianapolis. With the goal to increase community development activity from the inside out, MBCDC contacted Cinnaire seeking mentorship, capacity building, and technical assistance to support their mission.

“When the Martindale Brightwood CDC contacted our team seeking technical assistance and underwriting training, we were pleased to share our resources and donate our time to support the needs of one of our nonprofit partners,” said Keith Broadnax, Cinnaire Senior Vice President, Business Development. “We are committed to increasing representation in our industry, supporting impactful community projects, and revitalizing communities. Our partnership with the MBCDC, and our newly launched Jumpstart Martindale Brightwood program, helps us achieve those goals.”

Jumpstart Martindale Brightwood will provide aspiring developers who live in the community with the skills, knowledge, and support they need to rehabilitate fundamental projects one at a time. In the absence of established real estate developers willing to invest in smaller-scale projects, this program will cultivate a force of new local developers who currently reside in Martindale Brightwood or Indianapolis and have a commitment to improving the Martindale Brightwood neighborhood.

The objectives of the program are:

• Create opportunities for local residents to invest and develop their own neighborhoods
• Build wealth locally
• Support scattered site rehabilitation (as opposed to urban renewal)
• Encourage a healthy mix of affordable and market-rate housing
• Improve neighborhood safety and raise property values through blight reduction
• Help first-time investors become more attractive to traditional lenders
• Provide opportunities to groups traditionally under-represented in real estate development

To learn more about Jumpstart Brightwood Martindale, please visit: https://mbcdc.org/jumpstart-martindale-brightwood/