Tax Credit Advisor Article Archives

Detroit, MI—This struggling city has a land mass of 138 square miles. And about dead-on 7.2 miles of it is certifiably “back.”

Those who follow housing policy already understand that there is a nationwide housing crisis. Various demographics in the U.S., faced with low wages and government regulations that make the commodity more expensive, cannot buy or rent the units they need.

In 1229, Christian monks in Jerusalem, rummaging about for parchment, unbound a centuries-old codex, scraped off what was written on it, refolded the leaves in half, and wrote atop the now-smaller book, at right angles, new liturgical texts for the Holy Land’s faithful knights.

As a young comedian in 1970s New York City, Larry David worked the Times Square comedy clubs at night and would stumble home feigning belligerency to blend with the iniquitous nightlife that was the West Side.

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.

2017 has been a year to remember for community development and affordable housing professionals.

In order to get our editorial and design staff home for the holidays, we are putting this issue to bed a week before the leaders of both houses of Congress ascertain they will vote on tax change.

Community development financial institutions are small but nimble providers of housing and economic development funding for a very wide array of purposes often not filled by traditional lenders. They are often useful to help make Low Income Housing Tax Credit deals work by providing things, like LIHTC equity bridge financing and capital for general and limited partnership acquisitions.

Inspired by the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968, Robert Davenport has spent most of his life examining the root causes of racism and poverty in America and advocating for policies that encourage positive change in America’s most distressed cities and neighborhoods.

The people at the Special Olympics of Georgia obviously expect their $5.6 million new facility, financed with the help of New Markets Tax Credits, to last. They are planning to fill a time capsule to be opened there 50 years from now.

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.

Public housing has long been one of America’s top examples of government failure. From urban renewal, through the construction of high-rise ghettos, to demolition and rebuilding, the story has been about optimism and good intentions, followed by mismanagement and delay.