Blueprint Archives

Our original game plan for May was to highlight case studies of the variety of options available in Private Activity Bonds. But this issue, like all of our lives, has been disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis. Private activity might also be the best description of our daily routines now as so many of us are restricted to our homes.

As our staff prepares this issue to go to press, we are not working side by side in our downtown DC offices as we usually do but rather each teleworking from our own homes.

It’s spring training time, when everyone is optimistic and hopes they can win the World Series.

Am I missing something or is the current campaign-driven conversation about healthcare totally focused on costs? Limiting the healthcare debate to dollars and cents makes no sense.

There is a lot of noise both in the air and on the air. A lot of loud and fast talking and a fear of listening. I like to view our magazine as a thoughtful sanctuary from the fracas, a rest stop where you can quietly and patiently mull over ideas, innovations and transactions.

Today, just as we finish editing this issue, a letter with signatures representing 1,000 organizations and companies has been delivered to the chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee urging for extension of the New Markets Tax Credit program, which is due to expire at the end of this year.

A recent article on the Bisnow East Coast website reported that, according to a survey by the Associated General Contractors of America, “Across the U.S., 43 percent of construction firms reported that their costs had been higher than anticipated due to labor shortages, while 44 percent reported having to lengthen project timelines because of the issue.”

This is our annual Historic Tax Credit issue. But this year we’ve expanded the subject a bit to look at using historic credits as a part of multi-credit deals.

There are many problems we are faced with as a society that we may not currently have the means to solve, particularly those that are nature-driven (i.e., dementia, global warming, storms). But we can solve the housing shortage.

Our headline this month—“A New Era for the LIHTC Program”—might well have you scratching your head and wondering what the heck are they talking about.

In addition to CEO and president of Family Scholar House, Cathe Dykstra’s title includes Chief Possibility Officer.

In the summer following my freshman year at college, I had the privilege of interning in an over-the-counter trading room on Wall Street.