Bridge Investment Group Announces Key Developments In Its $75M "Bridge To Opportunity" Program, Adds New Partnership With Entryway

Adds partnership with Entryway to open the door to employment and housing opportunities for at-risk individuals and families

Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BRDG) ("Bridge" or the "Company") today announced expanded business and philanthropic commitments as part of its firmwide approach, "Bridge to Opportunity." Bridge to Opportunity leverages Bridge's unique strength as a vertically integrated operator of 90,000+ residential units nationwide, via its Workforce & Affordable Housing ("WFAH"), Multifamily, Single-Family Rental, Seniors Housing and Opportunity Zone verticals, to generate lasting impact for residents and the communities in which Bridge operates.

Bridge to Opportunity focuses on three key pillars: Bridge to Education, Bridge to Healthy Communities and Bridging the Gap to Financial Wellness. These initiatives include:

• Expanded philanthropic commitments totaling approximately $75 million over the next 10 years as part of the Bridge Community Enhancement Initiative ("BCEI") and Bridge's corporate charitable giving. BCEI seeks to fund impactful social programming in Bridge's WFAH communities. Bridge commits a portion of management fees from its WFAH funds to BCEI, with the expectation of up to $70 million over the lifecycle of Bridge's three WFAH funds.1 Some of the many programs offered within BCEI include college scholarships, food security, English-as-a-second language education, career counseling, credit score building, onsite health equity screenings, and after-school programs for children.
• New Partnership with Entryway, a nonprofit organization providing apartment owners and operators with a pipeline of pre-screened, trained, and ready-to-work individuals at risk or facing situational homelessness for entry-level positions. As a program partner, Bridge will provide subsidized, affordable housing and residence-based, onsite property management employment opportunities in its Multifamily properties, helping participants on their path to being self-sufficient.
• Project Access Partnership: In 2023, BCEI funded 42 Community Centers in Bridge's WFAH communities in partnership with Project Access, to provide leading on-site health, education, and employment services to residents.
• Driving Impact with Developments: Since 2019, Bridge has catalyzed community revitalization through its Opportunity Zone development activities. Bridge fosters community partnerships, delivers needed housing stock (including affordable housing), improves surrounding infrastructure and environments, and creates needed retail and commercial space for businesses to flourish. As of 4Q 2023, Bridge has raised $4.2 billion and invested $3.8 billion in 78 Opportunity Zone developments around the country. In addition, through its Bridge to Opportunity program, Bridge has philanthropically supported its Opportunity Zone development communities. This includes:
  • A program providing on-the-job training at a living wage with health benefits to at-risk and recently homeless youth in Sacramento, California;
  • A partnership with New Yorkers for Children to provide educational support to foster-care students and back-to-school packages in Queens, New York; and
  • A partnership in Atlanta creating a model for new development that can positively impact the broader community through next-generation jobs and skills training, health and wellness support, and access to a service-based hub to build community.
• PREA Foundation/Urban Alliance Property Management Pathway: Bridge is a Founding Governor Donor of the PREA Foundation and Property Management Pathway program with Urban Alliance, providing a multi-year $550,000 grant to support vocational placement in the property management industry for historically underrepresented groups. In 2023, Bridge Property Management supported seven interns.

"Bridge to Opportunity combines our unique position as an investment manager and vertically integrated real estate operator to help improve the communities in which we operate," said Jonathan Slager, Bridge's Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Slager continued, "Additionally, as a leading Opportunity Zone and Workforce and Affordable Housing investor, we have delivered much needed housing to residents who represent the ‘Missing Middle' low-to-medium income populations, while providing residents with life-enhancing social and community services. Our new partnership with Entryway furthers our efforts. We remain committed to creating tangible solutions that help everyday Americans while driving value for our communities and investors."

1$70 million estimated commitment includes commitments of approximately $23 million to date, with the expectation of an additional $47 million through the end of the fund lives based on Bridge's projections.