NEWS HEADLINES

CIC Leader Pritscher Dies

By Andre Shashaty

Oct. 15, Chicago—John Pritscher, the former Catholic priest who led the Community Investment Corp. (CIC), a consortium of banks that makes loans for apartments here, died Oct. 13.

Pritscher spent most of his career as the leader of CIC showing that small-scale, market-oriented rehab could bring neglected, crime-ridden neighborhoods back to life. He was honored for his life’s work by AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE magazine this fall, when he was inducted into the magazine’s Affordable Housing Hall of Fame.

“Mixing pragmatism with optimism, Pritscher built an organization that turned his vision into reality, enabling mom-and-pop investors to turn beat-up or abandoned old buildings into decent apartments with affordable rents, often with very little public subsidy,” said Andre Shashaty, editor of AHF.

Pritscher told AHF this summer that he was proud that CIC was able to show Chicago’s banking community that multifamily rehab lending is good business. Banks “followed us in neighborhood after neighborhood in making solid and profitable loans,” he said.

In 23 years, CIC borrowers have received $915 million in financing. More than $800 million in CIC loans were for the rehab of 1,500 buildings with 40,000 units and a total project cost of $1.4 billion. CIC losses have been 0.58 percent of closed loans, with 0.23 percent passed on to investors. This minimum default rate helps to keep interest rates low, at the cutting edge of the market, Pritscher said.

The risks were very real on many CIC deals, especially considering that CIC would take chances on first-time building owners and make high loan-to-value loans. Under Pritscher’s leadership, CIC showed that the risk could be managed by choosing the right owners and borrowers, and by providing intensive training.

Then there was the personal touch that was unique to John Pritscher. As one developer told AHF, he made everyone feel like they were part of one big family with a common cause.