icon Blueprint for July

Good Summer Reading

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3 min read

I know that on your summer vacation you usually like to get away from thinking about work and bury yourself in a romance or mystery. But I’m afraid what we are offering you this July is going to be too tantalizing for you to escape.  You might associate summer reading with fluff, but this issue is packed with a lot of red meat. It’s also a bit of a drift away from our usual menu of transaction and case studies. This time out we have a lot of what we hope will be practical and useful information to share on asset management and community strategies.

We are grateful to CohnReznick and honored to be able to present a sneak preview of its new report on operating expenses (LIHTC Property Operating Expense Analysis), which provides our readers with the opportunity to compare and evaluate their own project results against a compilation of industry averages.

Once you have time to digest that, you’ll next turn to strategies for cutting expenses, maximizing rents, improving your net operating income and the value of your portfolio as reported by NH&RA members at our Asset Management Symposium held early in June. (Grappling with Growth). You’ll also find

Tim Leonhard’s detailed and instructive explanation of a Portfolio Recapitalization by AHCD and REDS that required buying Limited Partners out of 21 individual assets, as well as John Gahan’s advice on how to conduct yourself with investors who prefer to exit.

We are hearing more and more intra-industry discussion about the need for workforce housing and providing convenience for those with incomes above LIHTC limits but insufficient for them to live in communities where they work. In this month’s other special section—on Community Strategies—staff writer Mark Olshaker surveys developers and housing agencies looking for, and creating solutions to, this problem. (Defining Workforce Housing)

Another issue we face in communities is an air of exclusivity that provokes opposition to affordable housing construction.  Staff writer Bendix Anderson and I attended a National Housing Conference seminar on using communication to overcome NIMBYism and Bendix reports on some of the successful efforts. (How to Talk to Opponents of Affordable Housing).

Presidential campaign prognosticators used to say, “As New Hampshire goes, so goes the nation,” but now we often hear that phrase used about other societal trends with the Golden State, California, replacing the Granite State.  And, after being accused of ignoring affordable housing, Governor Jerry Brown seems to be getting on board with some creative proposals of his own. All of his state’s housing agencies presented at NH&RA’s Spring Forum in Los Angeles and staff member Lauren Anderson reports on their programs. (State of the Golden State)

So pour yourself some iced tea (perhaps Long Island style), rub yourself with some cocoa butter (50 spf at least), settle into that beach chair or chaise in the yard and please enjoy the following pages.

Marty Bell, Editor