National Trust Loan Fund

*United States

MacGillivray's Building Before Rehab

MacGillivray's Building was threatened with demolition until active residents joined with a local CDC to acquire it, rehab it and return it to prominence Learn More

MacGillivray's After Rehab

The MacGillivray's Building mixed-use conversion catalyzed additional investment in this Baltimore historic district. Learn More

1620 Washington Ave. Before Rehab

This formerly vacant and badly blighted apartment house in Knoxville, TN was rehabbed by NTLF partner Knox Heritage Inc. into owner-occupied housing Learn More

1620 Washington Ave. After Rehab

The rehabilitation of 1620 Washington Ave. in Knoxville's Parkridge neighborhood is a triumph in preservation-based community revitalization. Learn More

The National Trust Loan Fund is undergoing a strategic planning process to determine the best way to serve the preservation community. As a result, NTLF has temporarily suspended its financial assistance operations. Please check this page for updates.

Investing in Change

In 2009, NTLF partnered with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to make $663,000 in grants to nine rehabilitation projects that will help transform older and historic communities nationwide.

About NTLF

The National Trust Loan Fund has more than 35 years of experience in supporting preservation-based community development projects across the country. As a certified Community Development Financial Institution, it has a mission of providing financial and technical resources to organizations that use historic preservation to support the revitalization of underserved and distressed communities.

NTLF specializes in predevelopment, acquisition, mini-permanent, bridge and rehabilitation loans for residential, commercial and public use projects. Eligible borrowers include not-for-profit organizations, revitalization organizations or real estate developers working in designated Main Street communities, local, state or regional governments, and for profit developers of older and/or historic buildings.

The National Trust Loan Fund also offers a wealth of expertise to help build the capacity of Main Street communities and Statewide and Local Partners in preservation-based real estate development. Its training topics including utilizing tax incentives, demystifying the loan process and principles of real estate development. It also offers a Preservation Road Show, where a team of NTLF staff visit a community and help local stakeholders shape bankable real estate development projects and plan and finance the creative reuse of existing assets.

Our Track Record

Since 1980, the Loan Fund has lent approximately $22 million to projects totaling $503,830,000 in development costs for a leverage ratio of $23:1. This participation has created 1,753 housing units--1,051 of them affordable--209 permanent jobs, and 60 construction jobs.

Our Partners

The Loan Fund works with a wide variety of partners on preservation projects nationwide. The Residential Rehab case studies profile several organizations that have unique approaches for obtaining historic properties and rehabilitating them into safe, attractive and comfortable single- and mult-family units. The Cornerstones case studies describe how entities have successfully converted vacant, abandoned and/or underutilized "white elephant" buildings into new uses.

Our Projects

Lending activity by NTLF includes loans to support the conversion of: a former brewery into office and program space for a social services agency serving low-income populations; a shirt factory into retail, office and loft apartments, and a former telephone exchange building into residences. Additional case studies illustrate the range of other successful adaptive reuse projects supported by NTLF.