Shift Capital: Transforming the Kensington Neighborhood

Can Shift Capital raise the $25 million additional funding it needs to keep its real estate development plans on track for a blighted Philadelphia neighborhood?

Bruce Usher  | Fall 2018
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Tamer Center for Social Enterprise

Shift Capital was a social impact real estate firm seeking to positively change underserved urban neighborhoods while producing attractive returns for investors. In January 2018 the organization had raised $25 million to date to support the transformation of the economically and socially challenged Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia; however, another $25 million had to be found as quickly as possible in order to move forward with development plans. In this case students are asked to consider the investor concerns that must be overcome in order to attract enough capital to close the fund: Were investors worried about the risk of investing in such a downtrodden neighborhood? Or was it the perception that Shift’s target returns were too low or would take too long?

Case ID: 190304
Supplemental Materials: Teaching Note

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