icon Blueprint for June

A Wink and a Nod

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3 min read

Hope this month’s cover got your attention. And if you’ve arrived at this page, I guess it did. When I find myself waiting in the checkout line at Safeway with nothing to do but stare at all the celebrities on the magazine covers, I’m envious that the editors of those publications can depend on famous faces to lure you inside.

When I heard at a recent NH&RA conference that over the past few years bonds have gone from 14% of affordable housing financing to a whopping 37%, I promptly called attorney and bond expert Wade Norris and said we have to tell this story. It certainly is one of the most important trends in this industry as you’ll read in Wade’s article, The Popularity of Bonds. We like to spot trends on our cover. And our ace designer Lisa Toji-Blank and I also like to make you smile. (Or at least make us smile) But how do you combine bonds and wit? Voila! By using Bonds. James Bonds.

But if our cover’s a wink, the content of this issue is a nod, a nod to all the creative approaches to financing taking place in our industry. There’s money out there. It’s no accident that attendance at consecutive NH&RA meetings, whether on the east coast or the west, is setting records. Funding piques interest. And this issue is largely devoted to bringing you in on new ideas that you can share or perhaps replicate.

The Healthy Future Fund is an admirable collaboration of LISC, Morgan

Stanley and the Kresge Foundation committed to funding projects that combine housing and healthcare for disadvantaged neighborhoods. It’s first project, the Conway Center in the Anacostia area across the river from downtown DC, not only provides both affordable housing and a healthcare facility but also a job training center to a neighborhood in need of support. As staff writer Mark Olshaker reports on (Healthy Future Fund’s Conway Center), this new joint funding venture contributed $34 million to the $90 million project.

We kept Mark busy this month as he also reports on a new proposal before the Seattle city council to utilize the expansion of the city’s light rail system, Sound Transit, to encourage the building of new affordable housing by providing adjacent land to new stations in the city’s outreaches at below-market rates. (The Train Home)

Another new incentive to encourage affordable (and sustainable) housing construction is the FHA’s lowering of Mortgage Insurance Premiums for properties that adhere to energy efficiency guidelines. As Bendix Anderson explains, these premium discounts result in a reduction in overall monthly expenses which permits developers to obtain larger loans at the same time that they help improve the environment. (MIP as a Policy Tool)

Though 33 states now have their own Historical Tax Credits, there is still resistance in some places. Joel L. Swerdlow reports on the conflict within the

Alabama legislature that led to defeat of the renewal of the state’s Historic Tax Credit despite the very apparent improvement of life and culture in Birmingham and other surrounding areas as a direct result of that credit. (Crimson Fried) Indications are this rejection may be temporary. We certainly hope that is the case and we will continue to follow this ongoing story.

So, in the tradition of Bond, why not make yourself a martini, shaken not stirred of course, and enjoy all the good information on funding sources provided by our writing team.

Da dum da dum. (You know the melody.)

 

Marty Bell, Editor