Tax Credit Advisor Article Archives

What I love most about the affordable housing industry is that it is populated by so many makers, doers and visionaries. Where most people see a piece of dirt, a blighted factory or a run-down apartment community, the tax credit developer seeks to fill an unmet societal need or market niche and conceives a future community.

As we reach our deadline for this issue, the two houses of Congress are playing ping pong with our tax code. If those on the House side of the table win, the New Markets Tax Credit may not survive. If those on the Senate side win, it may survive. And then again, either side can change its mind.

One of the most common raps against any kind of social welfare program for low-income individuals is that it robs them of the incentive to better themselves.

Jeffrey Woda grew up in rural eastern Ohio, separated from Wheeling, WV by the Ohio River, the son and grandson of homebuilding contractors. He left the area to become a CPA and was employed for a time by Ernst and Young, working with construction companies, financial institutions and other corporate entities.

Sometimes it can be hard to fathom that various American governing bodies are actually inflicting a housing crisis onto their people.

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.