Union pension funds have created over 4 million work-hours in Midwest

Newest project to hit 350,000 work-hours for local trades when completed

Clayton, MO – More good news for our local building trades members: an additional 350,000 work-hours are coming with the construction of the Bemiston Place Apartments.

The ceremonial groundbreaking held Sept. 28 celebrated the $69.2 million mixed-use development project at 25 Bemiston Ave. that will create 237 elegant apartments and 10,330 square feet of retail space. The new project will include the restoration of the architectural gem, Shanley House, which sits on the northeast corner of the project’s 1.5 acres, said Steve Brown, president and CEO of Balke Brown Transwestern, the developer of the project.

The new housing project is being financed by the ProLoan Bond Fund. Five local unions are among the 35 institutional investors invested in the fund. “We are proud of the Fund’s benchmark-beating returns and its ancillary benefits of providing fair wages to workers and creating economic stimulus to local communities,” Patton Roark, managing director of Richmond Capital Manager and Investment Manager to the Fund, said in welcoming guests to the “ceremonial” groundbreaking as work had already begun.

INVESTING UNIONS
Attending the ceremony were leaders and members of the five unions whose pension funds are invested in the ProLoan Bond Fund: Cement Masons Local 527, Missouri-Kansas Laborers District Council, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562, Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 and the Mid-America Carpenters District Council.

Introducing the unions’ leadership, Laborers District Council Business Manager Brandon Flinn complimented the cooperation between the trades, construction manager Holland Construction Services and Gershman Mortgage Investment Corp.

Jim Renick, a Cement Masons Local 527 business representative, said the unions were pleased that Holland was the general contractor as the firm works extremely well with all the unions.

100% UNION WORKFORCE
Noting that ProLoan ensures a 100 percent union workforce on its projects, Gary Perinar, executive secretary-treasurer of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, said the best-trained union workforce will ensure the best possible quality project.

Clayton Mayor Michelle Harris welcomed the unions and guests saying the city is extremely pleased with the project. She said she challenged the developers to come up with a “stunning project, and they did. It will become a landmark for the city and provide much-needed housing for the downtown area.”

UNION WORK-HOURS
ProLoan was launched decades ago by the St. Louis carpenters to promote local homebuilding by providing funding for home loans. However, for the past 14 years, that concept has been expanded by Richmond Capital to include 30 federally-insured construction housing bond investments totaling $759 million.

The ProLoan Bond Fund has to date generated a projected four million work-hours for union trades in construction projects throughout the Midwest.

LOCAL PROJECTS
Of its total $759 million investments in federally insured housing bonds, $285 million – 36 percent – has been invested in the St. Louis region via 12 major housing projects, with another $100.8 million invested in two Kansas City projects and $271 million – 35 percent – invested in Illinois via 10 housing projects.

Other communities where the ProLoan Bond Fund has made housing investments include Kansas City, Kansas, Davenport, Iowa, Ann Arbor, Mich. and Camden, NJ. Richmond Capital Management manages over $6 billion in institutional assets for over 225 clients globally.