| HUD No. 00-266 | |
| Further Information: | For Release |
| In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685 | Monday |
| Or contact your local HUD office | September 25, 2000 |
CUOMO PRESENTS $11 MILLION TO CITY OF COMMERCE FOR JOBS AND COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION
CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today presented a check for $11 million in HUD grants and guaranteed loans to LA County for the City of Commerce to revitalize the community and create nearly 1000 jobs.
Cuomo announced the funding during the second day of a three-day swing through 20 California cities.
"These grants will put more people to work in the City of Commerce and its surrounding communities. Working, self-sufficient parents not only invigorate families, but the neighborhoods in which they live. It's a ripple effect - put more people to work and entire communities become rejuvenated," Cuomo said.
The funding, which was awarded in August, is in two forms: Economic Development Initiative (EDI) Program and Section 108 guaranteed loans.
The City of Commerce, through the County of Los Angeles, received a $1 million EDI grant and a $10 million Section 108 loan to construct the City of Commerce Urban Entertainment Center along the Interstate 5/Santa Ana Freeway corridor. The center will include a 16-screen theater, 280,000 square-feet of retail space and 75,000 square-feet for restaurants and food courts. When opened, it will annually generate an estimated $1.4 million in new tax revenues and create 930 jobs.
HUD's EDI grant program, which was established in 1994, helps communities to fund activities that create jobs, primarily among lower and moderate income people.
Section 108 guaranteed loans enable communities to borrow money at reduced interest rates to promote economic development, expand the amount of housing or improve public facilities.
Cuomo delivered the keynote address in Los Angeles at Creating Partnerships for Renewed Hope, a HUD-sponsored conference that will bring together community and faith-based organizations, public officials, business leaders and HUD officials. Cuomo's three-day, 20 city trip concludes Tuesday in Los Angeles at Closing the Gap: Investing in America's Communities, an economic development conference that will focus on effective strategies, tools, and resources for creating partnerships that address the needs of America's distressed communities.
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