JP Morgan Originates $5B in Affordable Housing Debt and Equity Investment in Q3

As America sits in the throes of a national housing crisis, J.P. Morgan Chase is ready to put its money where its mouth is. 

Jamie Dimon’s megabank announced this week that it originated more than $5 billion in debt and equity investments through the end of the third quarter of 2025 — capital that is expected to either create or preserve nearly 39,000 units of affordable housing in major American cities. 

The commercial banking powerhouse has invested more than $50 billion of credit and equity in the last four years, which has created or preserved more than 410,000 units of affordable housing nationally, the bank said.  

Kurt Stuart, co-head of commercial term lending for the firm, told Commercial Observer that J.P. Morgan has deliberately chosen to attack the housing shortage because limited housing supply has long-term implications for the American economy, whether by limiting workers’ mobility to fill good jobs or by constraining local business operations through lower consumer spending.

“It has long-term implications for the vitality of cities,” said Stuart. “It’s a problem that’s multifaceted that we think requires a multipronged approach.”

To this end, J.P. Morgan has chosen to invest both credit and equity into the space, whether through construction lending, term loans, low-income housing tax credits, tax-oriented investments or historic local tax credits 

“All of those things are vital opportunities for us and vital parts of the solution stream there,” Stuart said. 

On Wednesday the firm also announced $40 million in philanthropic funding split between $20 million in grants and $20 million in flexible, impact-focused term loans. These loans have gone to organizations like Emily Thaden’s Roc USA and Shaun Donovan’s Enterprise Community Partners. 

“We’re grateful for J.P. Morgan Chase’s support in helping us pilot innovations to address the housing shortage with manufactured housing solutions and scale resident-ownership to many more communities,” Thaden said in a statement.  

The bank has funded several affordable housing projects in recent years, including the $38 million renovation of 68 units of supportive housing at the Stephan Russo Residence in Upper Manhattan; the $189 million construction of a 326-unit affordable housing development in the Bronx; and the origination of a $65 million construction loan to build a 290-unit affordable housing development in East Hollywood. 

Stuart told CO that J.P. Morgan is uniquely positioned to bring its depth of expertise to the national housing crisis — which currently holds a 5.5 million unit shortfall — as the firm has a foothold in every state. There’s not a state in the U.S. that has enough affordable housing for its constituency. 

“The breadth of solutions we provide is one where we can help build with hyper-local sponsors and multifamily owners,” Stuart said. “And we can do that at a large, national scale.” 

Stuart gave the example of New York City, where roughly one-third of housing units were built between 1910 and 1930 and are in dire need of new financing to renovate and preserve the buildings for the rest of the 21st century.  

“When we think about preserving housing and the vitality of cities, it’s a long-term approach, from ground-up construction to long-term type of debt with a range of time frames on it,” he said. “We’ll be supporters of this space for a very long time.”

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com.