Thom Amdur Author Archives

A recent Federal Reserve survey found that 39 percent of households that were working in February and were earning less than $40,000 a year lost their jobs in March or the beginning of April. Given these statistics and the target demographic, owners and managers of affordable housing have been preparing for dramatic declines in rental revenue.

The residents we serve are amongst the most vulnerable to both the health and economic effects of the crisis so, as an industry, we cannot afford to take a break or slow down. Much of our vital work has continued (with modifications) under new social distancing protocols and I want to acknowledge our many colleagues who are risking exposure to ensure critical maintenance and services get delivered, construction projects remain on some semblance of a schedule and, of course, rents get collected.

The rapid escalation of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic is having a deeply unsettling impact on how we live and how we work. It is testing our disaster response system in unanticipated ways and will require a new kind of resilience from us.

The enactment of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the creation of the Qualified Opportunity Zone Incentive (QOZI) has generated a great deal of activity by investors deploying capital in disinvested neighborhoods.

As you will read repeatedly in this issue, affordable housing is one of the most effective (and cost-effective) healthcare interventions, particularly for vulnerable populations, like the homeless. Without the stability of an affordable home, it is very difficult to treat the root causes of many common, yet intervenable, illnesses and conditions that plague modern America, whether it be hypertension, diabetes, obesity, asthma, mental illness or a myriad of other societal ills.

The tax credit equity market was relatively stable in 2019, but there is change in the air for 2020. We came heartbreakingly close to a flat four percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) for bond-financed projects in the year-end funding and tax extenders package, which gives us reason to be hopeful in 2020.

As we reported in last month’s issue, technology is transforming the commercial real estate and affordable housing sectors. It’s an exciting time of innovation; however, expectations for some of the industry giants have certainly been tested after SoftBank’s recent write downs of its investments in the panelization-unicorn Katerra and co-working-unicorn WeWork.

While reading on a recent flight back to Washington, I was really moved by two feature articles that together put into context how far we have come as a country in alleviating poverty – and how far we still have to go.

In a surprise move, news reports indicate President Trump is about to announce a new effort    to address homelessness in California.

This summer, I’m planning on taking a deeper dive into source materials behind a recent posting by Solomon Greene and Jorge González of the Urban Institute

The engines are running at full tilt at National Housing & Rehabilitation Association. It’s just half-way through what is turning into a productive year and I wanted to update you on various projects-in-progress:

The lack of supply of affordable housing for individuals and families making less than 60 percent of area median income is a persistent problem that spans every county in the country.