CPLC Prestamos CDFI Invests $11.5M to Expand Access to Higher Education and Workforce Opportunities in Palm Springs
Palm Springs, CA – Prestamos CDFI, a division of Chicanos Por La Causa, is pleased to announce a $11.5 million New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation to finance the development of a new 175,000 square-foot Palm Springs community college campus on approximately 27 acres located within the severely distressed community of Palm Springs, California. The project supports the expansion of Desert Community College District d/b/a College of the Desert (COD), a public two-year institution established in 1958 that serves the Coachella Valley as part of the California Community Colleges system, the largest higher education system in the nation. The new Palm Springs Campus will transform a former defunct retail shopping center into a comprehensive, technology-enabled academic and workforce training campus designed to expand access to post-secondary education, strengthen workforce pipelines, and support long-term economic mobility for low-income residents.
The campus will include classrooms, science labs, healthcare simulation labs, computer labs, film and sound editing studios, architecture and woodshop facilities, AI and AR/XR gaming labs, hospitality training rooms, a culinary institute, and an event center. Strategically located adjacent to Palm Springs High School, where more than 97% of students come from low-income households, the campus will create a clear pathway from high school to postsecondary education for first-generation college students.
While College of the Desert’s bond financing covers most planning, design, and construction costs, bond proceeds cannot be used to fund the ongoing operational and student-support expenses needed to activate and sustain the campus. These costs include faculty and instructor salaries, campus maintenance and security, and wraparound services that address food insecurity, housing instability, and transportation barriers.
NMTC financing will fill this capital gap, providing the flexible, below-market capital needed to fund these operational and student-support components. Without this financing, COD would have been required to defer the operational and student-support programming necessary for the Palm Springs Campus to function as a fully accessible workforce and economic development hub.
Once fully operational, the campus is expected to serve more than 5,000 students annually. Approximately 4,250 (85%) are projected to qualify as low-income individuals and 3,650 (73%) are expected to reside in low-income communities. The investment is expected to create 46 and retain 33 full-time jobs at the Palm Springs Campus, at a weighted average wage of $61.64 per hour, well above Prestamos’ quality wage benchmark of $31.72 per hour for the region, and to support an additional 2,090 temporary construction jobs.
Jose Martinez, President of Prestamos CDFI, stated, “This project reflects our mission to finance impactful investments that expand access to quality, affordable education in distressed communities. College of the Desert’s Palm Springs Campus will remove long-standing barriers to postsecondary education for Coachella Valley families and equip students with the skills needed for long-term economic mobility.”
The Palm Springs Campus is located in a severely distressed census tract, where median family income is 56% of the area benchmark and unemployment runs at 2.04 times the national rate. COD’s plEDGE Program, which provides recent Coachella Valley high school graduates with two years of free tuition and fees, has helped more than 10,000 local students attend college tuition-free since its 2017 launch, and the College is now expanding the program through “plEDGE for All” to reach every Coachella Valley resident by 2030, regardless of age, income, or background.
Borders Community Capital Company, LLC, California Statewide Communities Development Corporation, and Chase New Markets Corporation provided an additional $22.5 million in NMTC allocation to complete the project funding. Prestamos CDFI is an eight-time NMTC award-winning allocatee serving Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Puerto Rico, and Texas.
About Prestamos CDFI, LLC
Prestamos CDFI is a Community Development Financial Institution and a Community Development Entity that provides small business loans and high-quality technical support services to its clients. Prestamos partners with the most recognized organizations in our target markets including the CDFI Fund, U.S. Small Business Administration, National Association for Latino Asset Builders, SCORE, and State, County and Local Economic Development Authorities. Prestamos CDFI is an equal opportunity provider.
