Articles Archives

EITF Agrees That Accounting Guidance for Investments in Affordable Housing Tax Credits Needs Revision

3 min read

On March 14, 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) considered, Accounting for Investments in Affordable Housing Tax Credits (Issue 13-B), and voted to propose new guidance regarding when those investments will qualify for use of the effective yield method.

Preservation Deals: Traditional and New Approaches Keep Properties Affordable

9 min read

The low-income housing tax credit remains a main driver of transactions for renovating existing multifamily properties and preserving them as affordable rental housing for years to come. Yet there are some new wrinkles that promise additional opportunities for sponsors, including the new Rental Assistance Demonstration program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Policy Potpourri: Bipartisan Commission Makes Housing Recommendations

3 min read

A bipartisan commission has called for expanding the annual amount of federal low-income housing tax credits and deeper targeting of federal rent subsidies, as part of a package of national housing policy recommendations. Unveiled February 25 by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a Washington, D.C. think tank, the recommendations are contained in a report entitled Housing America’s Future: New Directions for National Policy.

The AMCAL Story: Developing Affordable Housing with a Pinch of the Supernatural

5 min read

Among affordable housing projects, Linda Vista Senior Apartments in Los Angeles has a unique and haunting backstory.

Changing Conditions: National Multi Fund Yields Head Downward as Deal Competition Gets Fiercer

10 min read

In many new national multi-investor funds closing later this year, projected after-tax returns to so-called economic investors are likely to dip below the once-sacrosanct 7% level, according to syndicators and other sources in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) industry.

The Right Mix

2 min read

For many years, state housing agencies in their qualified allocation plans have strongly promoted the enrichment of new low-income housing tax credit projects with services for residents. This trend has occurred in all types of LIHTC developments – those targeting families, seniors, and persons with special needs.

The Annual Scorecard: Harvard Report Finds Multifamily Sector Booming but Affordability Crisis

3 min read

The multifamily housing sector is going strong in the United States but there’s still an affordability crisis for renters, according to a recent report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Data deserts

5 min read

In policy-speak, a “food desert” is a low-income area, usually urban, where affordable healthy food is hard to obtain, especially for those without a car. Similarly, a data desert is a low-income neighborhood, community, or multifamily property where in-home high-capacity broadband with Internet access is unavailable, unreliable, or expensive.

Paying It Forward: Permanent Supportive Housing for Homeless Female Veterans and Families Rises on Former Navy Land

7 min read

When completed next spring, Blue Butterfly Village in the San Pedro section of Los Angeles will be more than just another housing development. Rather, with affordable apartments and supportive services, it will provide a safe and nurturing environment for the special but vulnerable households that will have priority for occupancy: homeless women veterans and their children.

Revitalizing the Core: Vacant Former Newspaper Complex in Worcester to See New Life as Mixed-Use Complex

7 min read

In Worcester, Mass., a former industrial city of 181,000 battered for decades by population and job losses, the federal new markets tax credit is helping to finance the redevelopment of five vacant downtown buildings once used by the local daily newspaper into a new urban education and business center.

The Diversification Strategy: Tom Capp and Gorman & Company Develop a Variety of Projects, Tap Different Funding Sources

7 min read

The way that Tom Capp and Gorman & Company, Inc. approach the development of multifamily rental housing, historic preservation, and mixed-use real estate projects is to always be on the lookout – for new opportunities, funding sources, and lessons.

Resident Services: Are Your Property’s Services Hitting the Mark?

6 min read

Great resident services are good business at Crest Avenue Apartments, in Charleroi, Pa., a community south of Pittsburgh.

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