Mark Olshaker Author Archives

Align Seeks to Fill Funding Gaps

7 min read

“We’ve developed, owned and operated affordable housing since 1994,” says Michael Costa of Align Finance Partners. “Now, as it has become progressively more difficult to produce housing for families and seniors of lesser means, we have created a new debt product to help finance the preservation and development of desperately needed affordable housing.”

Preservation Algebra

8 min read

“I really like RAD projects,” declares Holly Bray, senior director of originations for Love Funding in Washington, DC. “You’re in the weeds, helping housing authorities take their housing stocks and making them great. There are a lot of things to figure out and a lot of coordination. But the end result is truly rewarding.”

Do More with Less Space

8 min read

Our vision of the American household is inaccurate and out dated.

Introducing Opportunity Zones

8 min read

Amidst the ongoing debate about who benefits most and who least from the passage of the tax reform act in December 2017, one provision embedded in the new law appears to offer significant benefits for investment designed to improve low-income and underserved communities.

Accelerating Affordable Housing

6 min read

Austin, TX, the one enclave of the “Mine’s-Bigger-Than-Yours” Lone Star State proudly possessive of its description as “diversely weird” is taking decisive steps to maintain that distinct status against challenges brought on by its own success.

The Need for Mental Health Affordable Housing

14 min read

Virtually any experienced social worker will acknowledge that housing is the critical nexus for all desired outcomes, including jobs, education, health, interpersonal relationships, child-raising and development, and basic happiness and wellbeing.

Case Study

Collaborating for Support

9 min read

Journalists and social commentators often decry the shame of homelessness by ironically invoking the image of people living on the street in this land of plenty within sight of the Washington Monument, or the Empire State Building, the Space Needle or the TransAmerica Pyramid.

Local Preservation Tools

13 min read

There is no argument that affordable and subsidized housing is under strain and in many areas, finding land and launching new building projects is increasingly problematic.

Cost Containment Strategies: Katerra

8 min read

A little over a century after the assembly line and vertical integration came to the automobile industry and transformed the nation, the same concepts and efficiencies are slowly making their way into the construction business.

RetrofitNY

8 min read

As energy conservation grows in importance from both a financial and environmental standpoint, and as the task of preserving affordable housing intensifies, New York state is launching a bold initiative to confront both challenges. RetrofitNY, pronounced “Retrofit New York” and administered by NYSERDA – the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority – has the goal, in the agency’s own words, “to spearhead the creation of standardized, scalable solutions and processes that will improve the aesthetic and comfort of residential buildings while dramatically improving their energy performance.

Case Study

CrescentCare’s Health Campus

8 min read

On August 15, 2017, in the presence of government leaders, financing partners and local residents, the community health organization, CrescentCare, broke ground on its new health campus at 1631 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans.

Working Your Way Out of Affordable Housing

10 min read

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.

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