Thom Amdur • 4 min read
Housing is generally considered affordable if total housing costs do not exceed 30 percent of an individual’s gross income. This is really more of a programmatic definition than a practical one; it is a helpful measure for setting subsidized rents and utility allowances for low-income families that are lucky enough to live in LIHTC or Section 8 housing.
Mark Olshaker • 3 min read
Each year since 2004, NH&RA has bestowed its Affordable Housing Vision Award to affordable housing and community development leaders who have made valuable contributions to the field and demonstrated years of leadership, commitment and imagination.
Darryl Hicks • 12 min read
Larry Curtis aspired to be a successful businessman from the time he was 10 years old. Walking through a large shopping mall, Curtis told his parents that “one day, I am going to own this place.”
Bendix Anderson • 7 min read
Developers planned to tear down a historic Chicago affordable housing property to build a new, luxury residential tower.
Mark Olshaker • 8 min read
What Maurice Barry does for a living is complex. It involves interpretation of often arcane laws and regulations, wending his way through dense and sometimes conflicting rules, working with owners and tenants to get them what they are legally entitled to, restructuring FHA loans and monitoring a broad spectrum of compliance issues.
Christian Robin • 7 min read
On July 21st, during NH&RA’s Summer Institute on Martha’s Vineyard, John Leith-Tetrault was presented with the Chairman’s Award by NH&RA Chairman and partner at Bryan Cave, Jerry Breed. As founder of both the National Trust Community Investment Corporation and the Historic Tax Credit Coalition, John Leith-Tetrault has created a legacy in the Historic Tax Credit world.
Mark Olshaker • 8 min read
It is no exaggeration to say that the progress of Fred Copeman’s career mirrors, tracks and helped foster the ascendancy of the housing and energy tax credit programs from their beginning following the 1986 Tax Reform Act – the legislation that overhauled the entire real estate tax shelter business.
William G. MacRostie • 7 min read
Opened in 1934, the 17-story Art Deco United States Post Office and Custom House changed the St. Paul skyline. It may not be the tallest building in the city, but clad in granite and Minnesota Kasota limestone and broadly anchored near the Mississippi River, it represents the strength of the government it was built to serve. Its storied history includes a funding scandal with national repercussions and investigations into federal spending around the country, multiple vertical additions, and nearly 80 years of continuous use as a U.S. Post Office.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
In a little more than a month, voters (or, at least, that minority of the eligible electorate that actually casts a ballot) will go to the polls and exercise their franchise.
Joel Swerdlow • 22 min read
A depression-era factory turned affordable housing and a rehabilitated bank transformed into community event space are among the 16 winners and finalists of the 2016 J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation—fondly referred to as “The Timmys.”
Harry Kelly • 9 min read
In June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that policies and practices that have an unintentionally discriminatory impact on minorities and other protected persons – referred to as “disparate impact” liability – could constitute violations of the Fair Housing Act (“FHAct”). Texas Dept. of Comm. Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., __ U.S. __, 135 S. Ct. 2507 (2015). Since that time, agencies and courts have wrestled with the consequences of that decision. In some instances, agencies have seen the decision as expanding the scope of possible liability for housing providers, while courts have so far applied it sparingly, to address the so-called “heartland” of disparate impact cases involving barriers to housing integration. One year in, the Inclusive Communities decision has thus far resulted in more concerns and less certainty.
Joel Swerdlow • 6 min read
WaterFire is a non-profit arts organization whose activities include simultaneously lighting nearly 100 bonfires suspended just above the rivers that run through downtown Providence—accompanied, according to founder and Executive Artistic Director Barnaby Evans, “by music and other art surprises” that bring “joy and energy” to the way people experience and explore the City.