Managing for Success

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The saying goes, “Build it and they will come.”

That’s certainly true of affordable multifamily rental properties – there’s huge demand for these units and it’s usually not hard to lease them up.

Trouble is, after you open and lease up a property you need to manage it well, for years and years, to keep it filled and well-kept, the residents happy, and the tax credits flowing to investors. Yet it’s not impossible, as we see this month as we look at this challenging field and how some companies are effectively managing their tax credit properties and perhaps even providing some lessons to their colleagues. (“Harder Than It Looks,” p. 12)

Our journey in the real world of tax credit housing also takes us to examine the low-income housing tax credit programs of the four states that make up the “Four Corners” – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah – in advance of NH&RA’s 2013 Summer Institute in Santa Fe, N.M. (“Diverse Needs,” p. 24)

As is our practice each month, this issue includes a “case study” detailing a specific tax credit project. The subject this month – the St. Louis Stamping Lofts – may be one of the most unusual developments ever, the rehabilitation and adaptive re-use into affordable apartments of an historic former industrial building that will be integrated into a larger cutting-edge complex containing an urban farm and green business incubator. (“Far from Plain Vanilla,” p. 4)

Finally, where would the tax credit industry be without some larger-than-life, creative individuals? This month we examine one, in our profile by Marty Bell of Marcel Wisznia, the free spirited architect-developer-investor who specializes in restoring and transforming historic commercial buildings in New Orleans into marvelous apartment homes. One new project about to start, Stevens Garage, will even carry residents’ cars by elevator up to their front door. (“The Wisz,” p. 38)

In all of these stories, management plays a key role, for development is only the beginning of the road. Manage a property well, and they will keep on coming.