SAN FRANCISCO -- Bank of America has been honored with a 2008 President's Awards by the California Preservation Foundation (CPF) for its role in the preservation and restoration of the historic Fox Oakland Theater, located in downtown Oakland.
Bank of America provided $24.6 million in debt and equity financing to help the rehabilitation of the theater, including more than $9.5 million in equity invested using Historic Tax Credits through our syndicator partner National Trust, additional equity of more than $8.6 million using New Markets Tax Credits, and $6.5 million in construction lending. The Oakland Redevelopment Agency, the Friends of Fox Theatre, and California Capital Investments were lead partners on the Fox Oakland Theater project.
The CPF President's Awards honor individuals and organizations for preservation efforts that enable others to more deeply appreciate California's historic resources and their value to the state's economy, environment and quality of life.
Built in 1928, the Fox Oakland Theater will be reborn to provide an entertainment venue, classroom and administrative space to house the Oakland School for the Arts, and a charter school providing tuition-free education to economically disadvantaged students in grades 9-12. In addition, the ground level will offer retail space for small, locally-owned businesses.
"Bank of America is dedicated to making catalytic investments to spark economic revitalization, and the Fox Oakland Theater project is a truly a model effort," said Gabriel Speyer, Vice President, Community Development Banking for Bank of America. "Preserving this historic building was of critical importance to the Oakland community. We are proud to be recognized by the CPF for this effort and for working with leaders like developer and project manager Phil Tagami in helping to restore this culturally and economically significant landmark."
As a leader in the community development industry, Bank of America supports development efforts that contribute to the revitalization of neighborhoods, stabilize and preserve communities, create jobs and encourage other economic development. Bank of America during 2008 will invest more than $1 billion in support of affordable housing, historic rehabilitation and environmentally sustainable redevelopment projects, through the use of historic, low-income housing, and New Markets tax credits. Our commitment to making an impact through targeted equity investments illustrates our dedication to helping build stronger neighborhoods in communities throughout the country.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, nearly 18,500 ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 25 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Media may contact:
Colleen Haggerty, Bank of America
213-621-7414; colleen.haggerty@bankofamerica.com
