Contributor: Liz Diamond

At a time when unemployment in the union construction trades is at levels not seen since the Great Depression, the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) has reached a milestone by creating more than 10,000 union construction jobs during the past two years.  With investments of $963 million in 34 projects across the country, union pension capital invested by the HIT leveraged nearly $2 billion of development activity, while creating or preserving 12,752 housing and healthcare units and achieving competitive returns. With 11,188 jobs actually generated so far, the HIT is raising its goal to a new target of 15,000 jobs.

Examples of the HIT’s recent job-generating investments include three projects in San Francisco – 333 Harrison, Arc Light Co. and Potrero Launch. These three projects represent $105 million in HIT financing and have a total development value of $233 million. They will create 616 housing units and more than 1,300 union construction jobs.

The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust has committed $70 million of union pension capital to help finance construction of the 333 Harrison Apartments in San Francisco. Work on the 326-unit residential development is expected to generate approximately 600 jobs for members of San Francisco’s building and construction trades unions.

Besides its investment in 333 Harrison, the HIT is currently providing $35 million in financing to build two other San Francisco residential projects – the $80.4 million Potrero Launch development in the Central Waterfront area and the $48 million Arc Light Co. residences in the city’s South Beach neighborhood. Together, these three projects represent approximately 1,340 union construction jobs, 616 housing units, and $105 million in HIT financing.