After decades in the making, the Paul I. Terasaki Budokan community center will become a reality in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood.
The Budokan community center will provide the Little Tokyo community with a safe place to gather, learn about Japanese culture and play sports. “This facility will also provide a space for recreational and afterschool program opportunities for local, low-income youth of all ethnicities–which is sorely lacking in downtown neighborhoods,” said Erich Nakano, deputy director of the Little Tokyo Service Center.
“There are no alternative safe indoor recreation options for kids that live there,” said Jeff Wells, vice president, new markets tax credit director at The Opportunity Fund, which provided a new markets tax credit (NMTC) allocation to this development. The Opportunity Fund has received $348 million in total NMTC allocation authority and closed 25 NMTC transactions.
The gym will be available for sports leagues, summer camps, afterschool programs, sports clinics, leadership programs and public access. It will also have ample senior programs, including yoga, tai-chi, reading groups, arts and crafts, and health and wellness education.
Construction began in March and will be completed in November 2019.
The Paul I. Terasaki Budokan Community Center received $31,200,000 in NMTC funding and created over 150 permanent and construction jobs.
The Budokan community center will provide the Little Tokyo community with a safe place to gather, learn about Japanese culture and play sports. “This facility will also provide a space for recreational and afterschool program opportunities for local, low-income youth of all ethnicities–which is sorely lacking in downtown neighborhoods,” said Erich Nakano, deputy director of the Little Tokyo Service Center.
“There are no alternative safe indoor recreation options for kids that live there,” said Jeff Wells, vice president, new markets tax credit director at The Opportunity Fund, which provided a new markets tax credit (NMTC) allocation to this development. The Opportunity Fund has received $348 million in total NMTC allocation authority and closed 25 NMTC transactions.
The gym will be available for sports leagues, summer camps, afterschool programs, sports clinics, leadership programs and public access. It will also have ample senior programs, including yoga, tai-chi, reading groups, arts and crafts, and health and wellness education.
Construction began in March and will be completed in November 2019.
The Paul I. Terasaki Budokan Community Center received $31,200,000 in NMTC funding and created over 150 permanent and construction jobs.
10 December 2018
excerpts from "NMTCs Bring Los Angeles Community Center to the Finish Line" by Mark O’Meara for Novogradac
