Senior Associate/ Senior Architect at DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors
A compelling and informative read about LIHTC. Thank you, Rochelle Mills, for sharing! Here is a sampling of the voices featured in Miriam Axel-Lute’s Shelterforce article: - It’s important, says Rich Wallach, “that we come up with alternate models that aren’t tied to that whole ecosystem of investors and attorneys and accountants.” - Sean Closkey would like to see more homeownership development programs, and something to allow nonprofits to compete with private equity firms to acquire single-family homes. - “In a rational world,” says Ben Metcalf, “we would have a shit-ton more project-based vouchers,” which would provide an alternative source of subsidy for the construction and operation of more truly affordable housing. Add to that, he says, “some sort of shallow subsidy that’s available to help folks build moderate-income housing” and “some sort of coherent limited equity co-op investment program that’s being backstopped by the federal government” to expand ownership opportunities. - Tom De Simone suggests that not only do we need more and different programs, but that a least some of those programs should be structured to cover a larger portion of development costs—therefore requiring less time and energy spent scrambling to assemble multiple sources. - What do we need to do? The answer was nearly universal: We need more and different kinds of affordable housing funding. That is the only way to turn away from a monoculture toward a more balanced housing ecosystem. As Rochelle Mills says, “we’ve got to have more than one tool in the toolbox.” Read on!
Thank you, Miriam Axel-Lute and Shelterforce, for providing an outlet for developers to express our love-hate relationship with LIHTC. I admire the hard work, talent, and sincerity of so many in creating varied housing options that uplift residents, communities, and economies. I am hopeful that those public and private entities, including anchor businesses, with resources and willingness to do more and better to solve this crisis will welcome and support creative, economically sound, scalable, and replicable solutions that Innovative Housing Opportunities, Inc. (IHO) and others are eager to implement. Encouraging additional, more cost-effective ways to do this work is not just the right thing to do, but is smart business. #bethechange #mixedincomehousing builds #strongcommunities #blendedfinance #impactinvesting #affordablehousing #letsdothis Ben Metcalf Tom De Simone Priya Jayachandran Sean Closkey Callahan Seltzer Claudia Wilson Randall Rich Wallach Kate Hartley
