The Passport west end HQ development project has drawn attention and support from prominent national investors. A collection of financial leaders has awarded Passport Health Plan – a nonprofit, Kentucky-based Medicaid managed care organization – millions of dollars in special tax credit financing to help bring the company’s new headquarters and Health and Well-Being Campus to reality in downtown Louisville.

Three Community Development Entities (CDEs) are combining to provide $24.35 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing to Passport, bringing $8.55 million in subsidy to assist the project. The CDEs are the National Development Council, Reinvestment Fund and Telesis Corporation. SB Friedman Development Advisors acted as consultants for this project. PNC Bank will serve as the investor for the $8.55M in tax credit equity.

“The Passport Health and Well-Being Campus will further allow us to meet our shared goal with the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services (DMS) to help our members develop job skills, acquire education, and ultimately become employed and have access to private insurance,” said Passport CEO Mark Carter. “Through our collaboration with community partners focused on healthy food, affordable and safe housing and other services, we will reduce the overall cost of Kentucky’s Medicaid program in the future.”

Investment Incentives

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) was established in 2000 to provide incentives for investment in low-income communities, according to the Tax Policy Center. Congress authorizes the amount of credit authority, which is then allocated to qualified applications by the Treasury Department.

According to the NMTC Coalition, $42 billion in direct NMTC investments were made between 2003 and 2015, leveraging nearly $80 billion in total capital investment to businesses and revitalization projects in communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment.

“The Passport Health and Well-Being Campus is organized around social determinants of health, which are conditions in the environments in which people are born, learn, work, play, worship and live that affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life outcomes,” Carter said. “Along with the Passport headquarters – which will see more than 300 new jobs from participating partners over the coming years – there will be strong retail and service-based opportunities available on the campus, along with housing, retail and community-gathering opportunities available.