Founded in 1870, Allen University is a Historically Black University with a deep affiliation with the African Methodist Church. The school was originally focused on training ministers and teachers, typical of HBCUs founded during reconstruction as educational opportunities for African Americans necessitated a new professional class of educators and leaders. This legacy continues with the school’s Dickerson Green Theological Seminary, which is the first advanced degree offered by Allen University. Allen University is an important community anchor in Columbia and its impact has grown beyond its academic mission. This includes partnerships to support local public housing residents with access to education, working with the local schools with academic support services for youth and longtime support for the Benedict-Allen Community Development Corporation.
The project will completely renovate the historic Waverly Hospital building and construct a new addition to allow the university to operate several new and expanding programs as well as community facilities.
The renovated facility will also house the Boeing Institute on Civility, which is envisioned as a national hub for teaching and provide programming aimed at advancing civil discourse in America and across the globe. The Institute will be dedicated to the memory of Clementa Pinckney, an Allen graduate who was murdered, along with eight others, in the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. shooting in 2015. Reinvestment Fund is providing a $2.6 million bridge loan and $5 million in New Markets Tax Credits for this project. The bridge loan is bridging towards South Carolina Abandoned Building Credits, a type of credit specifically available for the renovation and reuse of long-term vacant properties, as well as State and Federal historic credits. South Carolina Community Loan Fund is also providing $7 million in NMTC allocations for the project. JPMorgan Chase is the NMTC investor. Enhanced Capital is the State and Federal historic credits investor. The Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital is one of Enhanced Capital’s latest projects that seeks to stimulate regional economic and communal growth by preserving and improving historic buildings.
Enhanced Capital’s financing helped transform the crumbling, vacant landmark into 18 affordable apartments and a ground floor space for community services. Enhanced Capital’s Impact Real Estate group has partnered with Allen University, a historically black university (HBCU), to fund the redevelopment of the historic Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital in Columbia, SC. The Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital is a 19,935 sq. ft. building that was constructed in 1952 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As a bridge from Columbia’s past to its present, the site will house valuable space for Allen University to provide two graduate degree programs for 255 students. Allen University offers quality education for students who may not have had the traditional preparation and means to afford one. The project will also include a new-build annex to honor the nine victims of the 2015 massacre at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston.