Tax Credit Advisor Article Archives

The federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC) program has seen a few ups and downs the past six years. The Great Recession that began in 2008, followed by the Third Circuit’s decision in Historic Boardwalk Hall LLC v. Commissioner in August 2012, led to a mass exodus of investors and caused major market disruptions.

To the list of American things that are growing more expensive in real terms, we must add the standard LIHTC apartment, and the principal reason is our capital sourcing model, the funding sieve.

Train bays, affordable housing, market rate apartments and a medical clinic squeeze into the Counting House Lofts, a new community in Lowell, Mass.

“The Big Picture is I’ve always felt that those of us who operate in this area are doing something that is helping to implement Congressional intent to try to make affordable housing available to people, and to try to foster the rehabilitation of historic buildings. And even though the work can be very technical and you’re dealing with very complicated provisions, when you step back and look at that Big Picture, I’ve always taken a lot of satisfaction that what we’re doing is doing good. That’s important to me.”

The homepage states, “The mission of the Department of Neighborhood Development is to make Boston the most livable city in the nation.” It then goes on to explain, “DND’s main functions are to set and implement the City’s housing policy, manage the City’s real estate portfolio, and strengthen Boston’s small businesses.”

Each year since 2004, NH&RA has bestowed its Affordable Housing Vision Award to affordable housing and community
development leaders who have made valuable contributions to the field and demonstrated years of leadership, commitment and imagination. Recognizing that providing housing for those who cannot meet the market rates is an always complex and challenging endeavor, demanding both perseverance and foresight, NH&RA seeks to single out men and women in all aspects of the industry whose careers and achievements serve as examples and role models. Traditionally, one individual is chosen from the profit sector and one from the nonprofit sector.

Over the better part of the past decade, given the extraordinary demand and competition for multifamily investment, many existing affordable housing properties nearing the end of their initial 15-year compliance period have been sold to “conventional buyers” whose goal is to drive high returns rather than be long term owner/operators of affordable housing.

I love history. I am the kind of guy that makes long detours to visit minor historic landmarks. You have probably cursed at me from your car because I slow down traffic to better read the historic markers on the side of country roads.

In “Hamilton,” the most highly praised Broadway musical in some years, author/composer/lyricist/star Lin Manuel Miranda tells the story of America’s Founding Fathers to rap music—and it works. Miranda’s brilliant conceit is that the rebels who sought a better life than they had under King George III share the emotions in the voices of those seeking a better life today. And, in his cast, the faces of his 18th century revolutionaries are those of today’s America.

Few people have achieved the level of success expanding access to affordable housing and homeownership opportunities in the mid-Atlantic region as Chickie Grayson, President and CEO of Enterprise Homes, Inc.

“New Markets Tax Credit legislation for South Carolina has been filed the past two years sponsored by a broadly bi-partisan group of legislators,” says Burnie Maybank, a former director of the state’s Department of Revenue and now in the Columbia, S.C. office of the Nexsen/Pruitt law firm

Throughout the U.S., people know new ideas and trends often come from California. But in one such case, some worry that the new ideas may drive developers and investors away from building affordable housing there.