Purpose-built platform focused on building and preserving middle-income housing combines investment and asset management capabilities
Bethesda, Maryland, May 29, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–JBG SMITH (NYSE: JBGS) today announced the launch of LEO Impact Capital (LEO), a workforce housing investment management platform designed to acquire, operate and preserve moderate-income housing in fast-growing areas vulnerable to rising housing costs. LEO is a subsidiary of JBG SMITH, a leading owner-developer in the Washington, DC area.
JBG SMITH’s existing impact investing activities have been consolidated under LEO, including management of the Washington Housing Initiative Impact Pool (Impact Pool). Launched in 2018, Impact Pool is a approximately $115 million investment vehicle that works with nonprofit and for-profit mission-driven sponsors to acquire privately owned, unsubsidized housing that is affordable to working families. Since making its first investment in 2020, Impact Pool has helped build and preserve more than 3,000 units in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia, exceeding its goal of delivering 3,000 units by 2025.
LEO’s founding comes at a time of increasing pressure on “missing middle” Americans — teachers, nurses, firefighters, office workers and other workers who provide essential services that help communities thrive but earn too much to qualify for housing subsidies, but not enough for themselves and their families to pay the average market rent in many of the nation’s most populous cities. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, housing cost pressures are growing fastest for this group, with one-third of America’s missing-middle renters now spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent.
AJ Jackson, who most recently served as Executive Vice President of Social Impact Investing at JBG SMITH, has been appointed President of LEO Impact Capital. Mr. Jackson stated, “Our primary goal in forming LEO Impact Capital is to build on Impact Pool’s track record of success and help investors, residents and communities access opportunities to help people live in neighborhoods where they can thrive and affordably rent. Since launching our first social impact investment vehicle in 2018, we have significantly expanded our impact investing business. As a result, consolidating our investment, asset and portfolio management activities under a dedicated impact platform will enable us to continue to grow and best serve our residents, investors and partners.”
“LEO Impact Capital offers the best of both our residents and investment partners,” said Matt Kelly, CEO of JBG SMITH. “LEO will benefit from a dedicated and experienced team of professionals focused on investing in and operating affordable workforce housing, while generating fee income for JBG SMITH and strengthening relationships with the local community. Access to affordable housing is as important to economic growth as education and job skills, and we are pleased to continue to leverage our operating platform to address this critical need.”
About LEO Impact Capital
LEO Impact Capital creates access to opportunity through the acquisition, operation and investment of workforce housing in high-impact neighborhoods. Leveraging a data-backed, double-bottom-line approach and the resources and extensive experience of its NYSE-listed parent company, JBG SMITH, LEO aims to create long-term value for investors, mitigate risk, preserve affordable rent for residents and drive measurable impact. To learn more about LEO Impact Capital, visit www.LEOIC.com.
About JBG SMITH
JBG SMITH owns, operates, invests in and develops mixed-use properties in high-growth, high barrier-to-entry submarkets in and around Washington, DC, most notably National Landing. JBG SMITH’s focus on placemaking fosters vibrant, amenity-rich, walkable neighborhoods throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Approximately 75.0% of JBG SMITH’s holdings are located in the National Landing submarket in Northern Virginia, which is supported by four key demand drivers: Amazon’s new headquarters, Virginia Tech’s under-construction $1 billion innovation campus, the submarket’s proximity to the Pentagon, and JBG SMITH’s rollout of 5G digital infrastructure. JBG SMITH’s dynamic portfolio currently consists of 13.7 million square feet of high-growth multifamily, office and retail assets by share, 98% of which are metro-served. JBG SMITH also maintains a development pipeline that includes 9.3 million square feet of mixed-use, primarily multifamily development opportunities. JBG SMITH is committed to operating and developing green, smart and healthy buildings and plans to maintain carbon neutral operations annually. For more information about JBG SMITH, please visit www.jbgsmith.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They represent our intentions, plans, expectations, and beliefs and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Accordingly, future results of JBG SMITH Properties (“JBG SMITH” or the “Company”) may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. You can find many of these statements by looking for words such as “approximately,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “may” and similar expressions in this press release. You should also be aware of forward-looking statements, such as future investments, locations of affordable housing, and the extent of affordability. Many of the factors that will determine the outcome of these forward-looking statements, rights, plans and other outcomes are beyond our ability to control or predict. These factors include adverse economic and political conditions in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, the timing and associated costs of development and real estate improvements, financing commitments and general competitive factors. For a detailed description of factors and other risks and uncertainties that could materially affect the results of our forward-looking statements, see “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and other periodic reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for these statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referenced in this section. We undertake no obligation to publicly release any revisions to any forward-looking statements after today.
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contact address
Mitty Rooney
Rubenstein
Executive Vice President
(301) 602-8709
Email:
Samantha Schmieder
JBG Smith
Corporate Communications Manager
(240) 333-7706
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