Tax Credit Advisor Article Archives

This September, a new building opened in Minneapolis that, while unspectacular, represents a prototype for the future of urban American development.

If a true test of a company’s sustainability is its ability to transition from a founding or visionary CEO or leadership team to a next generation of both, then the affordable housing industry is in a watershed, where we are about to discover how many of today’s leading companies will still be so in half a decade.

The rules have changed a little on getting historic preservation tax credits on multi-building projects. But it will still be possible to do such large-scale renovations. In fact, the new guidance should make some big deals easier to do.

What constitutes effective leadership and how to improve it is a constant source of discussion and reflection throughout American industry in both the profit and nonprofit sectors. The affordable housing area is no exception.

State affordable housing trusts provide viable supplemental funding and potential alternatives to federal housing programs, sources that can come in handy if federal budgets are cut.

When you think of innovation in American business you probably think of Apple, Google and the myriad of tech “unicorns” (i.e. billion dollar startups) which dominate the business news. What do all of these companies have in common? Their business models are fundamentally all based on disruption.

The majority of our issues of Tax Credit Advisor are built around themes. In those months we try to tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end on subjects, such as housing and healthcare, asset management or one of the tax credits.

I walked outside the Santa Lucia train station in Venice, boarded the vaparetto (or water bus) down the Grand Canal and found myself surrounded by palaces and churches, some five and six centuries old. Suddenly transported into hundreds of years of history, the short-term view no longer seemed as significant nor as inspiring as the long-term perspective.

The revitalization of Downtown Toledo was one of the big aims of ProMedica’s $60 million revamp of an old steam plant there, a project which received both State and Federal Historic Tax Credits. It seems to be working, as apartments in the district now have become the hottest ticket in the city.

Home is where the heart is, but as society ages it’s also where people look for health and economic security. More and more, the nation’s 76 million Boomers are seeking the solutions for aging well in this unprecedented gift of health and time they’ve received.

State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits provide a valuable source of funding for developers who specialize in revitalizing older buildings. However, they also pose challenges for the uninitiated.

“I grew up in Detroit in the 1950s and early 1960s, and it had a tremendous effect on me. I saw stable neighborhoods fall apart overnight. Growing up in the city was a very powerful influence.”