icon Blueprint for June

Building As a Foundation of Hope

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3 min read

In these darkest of times, this month’s Tax Credit Advisor devotes our pages to hope.

In two of the lowest income per capita zip codes in our nation 3,000 miles apart, two new multi-dimensional, mixed-income projects are underway that demonstrate the unique potential of affordable housing-oriented development to pump hope and energy into a community and its city and bolster the opportunities of residents of both the new buildings and their surroundings. These are developments that, as Thomas Brown of Trinity Financial says, “Get every inch of public good out of the space,” and make you proud to be a participant in this industry.

In the Bronx in Upper New York City, Trinity is part of an unusually large team constructing 425 Grand Concourse, a beautiful and an imposing 22-story tower that includes varied housing options for those from 30 to 130 percent of area median income as well as a community college, medical center, grocery store that the area vitally needs, a rooftop garden, a cultural center and an adjacent park. The building sits on a site formerly occupied by PS 31, a Collegiate Gothic-style structure nicknamed “The Cathedral of the Concourse” whose demolition caused resentment among some long-time community residents. But, as staff writer Mark Olshaker reports, the services provided by this complex will fill many lingering voids in the neighborhood. (The “Everything Building”)

In the southeast corner of Seattle, WA, a site community members have named the Othello Square campus will comprise four separate buildings, including a charter school, an opportunity center, a children’s clinic, a tiny tots development center, a 68-unit home ownership project and the Orenda, an eight-story residential building with 176 units of housing for renters between 65 and 120 percent of area median income. Staff writer Mark Fogarty reports on the unique public/private funding apparatus that included support from Seattle Children’s Hospital and Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. (Impact Equity)

Sparks of hope also are featured in our second monthly COVID-19 Response Report, as each of our regular columnists muses about the post-lockdown landscape. Guru David A. Smith predicts practices that will become extinct, as well as innovations and reforms we might see in the wake of the pandemic. Housing USA columnist Scott Beyer looks at the impact on the housing market. And NH&RA President Thom Amdur thinks about laying the groundwork for a community approach to development that may grow out of what we have learned during the stay-at-home period.

Also, in this issue, you will find a report from attorney David A. Davenport on three recent court decisions that involve disputes between developers and investors as they try to complete Year 15 exit transactions. (Legal Matters: Year 15 Disputes Continue)

Stay hopeful. Stay determined. Stay well. Stay here.

Marty Bell, Editor