Scott Beyer • 6 min read
When many Americans think “solar panels,” they still think of an individual array of panels that go on someone’s home. This means they see solar energy as a burdensome process that requires too much time, money and roof space to apply to them. But recently, solar energy has become much more scalable and democratic – via the “Community Solar” model. This has grown in tandem with government subsidies, and could be a good business opportunity for real estate developers or other environmental entrepreneurs who have familiarity with tax credits.
Thom Amdur • 3 min read
As you will read repeatedly in this issue, affordable housing is one of the most effective (and cost-effective) healthcare interventions, particularly for vulnerable populations, like the homeless. Without the stability of an affordable home, it is very difficult to treat the root causes of many common, yet intervenable, illnesses and conditions that plague modern America, whether it be hypertension, diabetes, obesity, asthma, mental illness or a myriad of other societal ills.
Kaitlyn Snyder • 8 min read
In case you haven’t already noticed, this issue of Tax Credit Advisor clearly demonstrates that the 50 states and the District of Columbia are at the vanguard of developing innovative housing solutions.
Mark Fogarty • 7 min read
A small city, or even a small town, doesn’t have to have a small housing footprint. Cases in point: National City, CA, where a tiny staff works on big affordable projects, and Kittery, ME, a place so small it doesn’t have its own housing department but still dreams of attracting tax credit deals.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
The tax credit equity market was relatively stable in 2019, but there is change in the air for 2020. We came heartbreakingly close to a flat four percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) for bond-financed projects in the year-end funding and tax extenders package, which gives us reason to be hopeful in 2020.
Laurie Share • 8 min read
After eight years of struggling for the attention of Governor Jerry Brown, who seemed to prefer speed rail to housing, the affordable housing industry appears to be more of a priority of the administration of Governor Gavin Newsom, who took office in 2019. The nation’s most populated state includes five of the country’s ten most expensive cities to live in along its coast.
Mark Olshaker • 5 min read
“Our agency has no power to make people do anything. We can only convince through advocacy and stories,” says Rebecca Davis, deputy director of Boston’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).
Scott Beyer • 6 min read
There’s a sentiment among housing analysts and advocates—whether right or wrong—that the market can’t fully produce affordable housing. Especially in overheated real estate climates, like New York City and San Francisco, where land values are high and building lots of housing in certain neighborhoods will not necessarily make housing affordable in those neighborhoods. Instead, if they’re to be available to all income groups (which is a worthwhile goal given the economic and health benefits of living in good neighborhoods), policies need to be more intentional. The government, goes the thinking, needs to directly spur affordable housing production in these overheated areas.
Mark Fogarty • 5 min read
An idea that got its start at a kick-the-tires session about the future of Indianapolis four years ago has blossomed into an at least $15 million effort to enhance transit-oriented housing development (TOD) along that city’s expanding bus routes.
Scott Beyer • 6 min read
In the summer of 2017, a collection of institutions bet on the idea of “healthy” developments and neighborhoods. Seeing the health disparities in different parts of metro Boston, they financially backed the construction of buildings designed to spur good health outcomes for residents.
Mark Olshaker • 11 min read
“The housing crisis in many ways is worse than it’s ever been. We have a 7.5 million unit shortage for the lowest income group and it’s growing. More people are experiencing homelessness than ever before. There is an explosion of people suddenly homeless. In some communities on the West Coast, real estate prices are causing severe increases that affect everybody down the line.”
Darryl Hicks • 11 min read
Despite being one of the most idyllic places to live in America, Vermont suffers from a shortage of affordable housing. The legislature and the Vermont Housing Finance Agency are doing all they can to address the problem, but they have two strikes against them already.