JPMorgan Chase invests $10M to communities near Anacostia’s 11th Street Bridge Park to prevent gentrification

JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, has announced that they plan on investing $10 million into Washington, D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8 in order to prevent gentrification that could be caused by the construction of the 11th Street Bridge Park.

With construction expected to begin by 2019, the new $50 million to $55 million elevated bridge park will bring spaces for performances, public art related to the region, plazas, play areas, kayak and canoe launches, and urban agriculture plots. There will also be an outdoor amphitheater and an environmental education center.

Half of JPMorgan’s three-year investment will go to Ward 8-based nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR) and partners City First Enterprises and Washington Area Community Investment Fund. UrbanTurf reported that the investment will go towards small minority- and locally-owned businesses, affordable housing, and training Ward 8 residents for construction jobs.

The investment, which Fortune described as “relatively small,” is part of JPMorgan Chase’s annual $250 million philanthropic spending towards economic revival programs. The biggest investment the bank has made so far during this push has been to Detroit’s five-year, $100 million “Invested in Detroit” program.

Last year, in Washington, D.C., non-profit Local Initiatives Support Corp. also made a $50 million investment to the local communities near the bridge park project. The Washington Post reported that these funds will go towards affordable housing, early-childhood education, and other services.

• Why JPMorgan Chase Is Putting $10 Million Into Two Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. [Fortune]

• Big philanthropists flock to D.C.’s Bridge Park project to battle gentrification [The Washington Post]

• JPMorgan Chase Announces $10 Million Investment East of the River [UrbanTurf]