Thom Amdur • 3 min read
This has been a remarkable few months in Washington. Our broken legislative process once again leaned us over the edge of the budget precipice.
Thom Amdur • 5 min read
On March 13, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition released a new report, “The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Rental Homes,” which finds that there is a shortage of 7.2 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low income (ELI) households – a startling and sobering number.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
Just last week, I was optimistic that this year’s federal budget cycle, dysfunctional though it is, might offer reasons for hope.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
Many state housing finance agencies are beginning work to tweak or, in some cases completely overhaul, their QAPs over the next few months.
Thom Amdur • 5 min read
2017 has been a year to remember for community development and affordable housing professionals.
Thom Amdur • 5 min read
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.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
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.
Thom Amdur • 5 min read
Millions of families across Texas, Florida, the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast and the Southeast have had their lives upended by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. As I write this column, Hurricane Jose is forming off the Bahamas with an uncertain trajectory.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
Last month, NH&RA’s Developers Council submitted comments to the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) in response to its new proposed recommended practices in housing credit allocation and underwriting. It is to the credit of NCSHA and its members that as the LIHTC program and marketplace has evolved, it has dedicated significant time and effort to developing revised guidelines for its members to coincide with the times.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
Our world is in the midst of disruption. Uber and Lyft have disrupted the transportation industry, Google has transformed search and advertising, and Amazon has reshaped how we shop.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
We cannot deny we have a national housing crisis. A new study commissioned by the National Multifamily Housing Council recently found that the U.S. must add 325,000 new apartments annually to meet rising demand, while the average production over the past four years has only been 244,000 units per year.
Thom Amdur • 4 min read
On a taxi ride into Denver I counted 27 cranes – a staggering amount of construction. An article in the local paper reported that developers delivered 3,246 new multifamily apartments in the first quarter alone and 10,000 in total are expected to be delivered by year end! A local real estate executive told me that 100 millennials move to Denver every day.