Trump Corporate Tax Shakeup Puts Housing Developers in Tailspin

April 26, 2017                            By:  Romy Varghese

Caleb Roope’s company was close to nailing down the financing to build 477 apartments outside San Francisco for senior citizens and working families, counting on the cash to be raised from selling U.S. tax credits it received to develop affordable housing.

Then after Donald Trump, who vowed to slash taxes, won the presidential election, the value of those credits plunged -- and the plans fell through. "It was already hard enough to make the projects work, given the construction costs," said Roope, chief executive officer of the Pacific Companies, an Eagle, Idaho-based builder. "The double whammy of the interest rate pickup and then the tax credit pricing decline has really put a lot of projects in jeopardy."................Read More

Talk of Federal Tax Cuts Chills Affordable Housing Market

April 25, 2017                      By: Elaine S. Povich, STATELINE

BOSTON — The planned A.O. Flats housing development in this city’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood was billed as an oasis for low- and middle-income families, a place where they could get affordable housing in an increasingly affluent area.

Bart Mitchell, who coordinates affordable housing projects in Boston, gestures to an empty lot where a new project is to be built.  Financing for the project was thrown into disarray by the prospect of lower federal corporate tax rates.

Financing was nearly in place and construction was set to begin until President Trump and Congress started talking right after the election about delivering the biggest overhaul of the federal tax code in more than 30 years. Those plans include simplifying tax law as well as cutting taxes, especially for the better-off and for corporations..........Read More

Administration Releases Tax Plan Outline

April 28, 2017                               By: National Council of State Housing Agencies

The Trump Administration released April 26 a one-page outline of tax reform principles and objectives it intends to pursue this year. The document calls for reductions in individual and corporate tax rates to be paid for, at least in part, by economic growth the Administration estimates the proposed changes will create and by eliminating tax deductions and other tax "breaks."

Specifically, the proposed changes include lowering the corporate tax rate (including for pass-through corporations) to 15 percent from 35 percent and the tax rate for top individual earners to 35 percent from 39.6 percent. The proposal also calls for the elimination of the estate tax, Alternative Minimum Tax, and Affordable Care Act surtax on high incomes...............Read More

Why Affordable Apartments Are Hard for Low-Income Renters to Find

April 28, 2017                         By:   Kim Betancourt

Kim Betancourt, who oversees economics and market research for Fannie Mae's multifamily platform, talks about her team's latest findings on barriers to affordability.

Fannie Mae’s multifamily economics team studies the dynamics of rental markets nationwide. In its Multifamily Market Commentary for March, the team notes that it expects nearly 404,000 apartment to come online in 2017. That’s up from approximately 343,000 deliveries last year. However, just a handful of metropolitan markets account for a disproportionate share of the nationwide total.

In 2016, Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., combined accounted for about 79,000 of the total apartment deliveries. This year, they will have around 81,000 deliveries......Read More

'Affordable for Whom?' The Disconnect Between Need and Allotment of Affordable Units

April 21, 2017                             By: Multifamily Executive

Cities across the U.S. are struggling with the need for housing affordable enough for local residents. Many housing authorities help developers assign a number of units in a building to different income "bands," targeting residents across the spectrum of the area median income.

535 Carlton Avenue in Brooklyn

New buildings offering affordable housing options often see an overwhelming amount of applications. However, when those applications are broken down to consider the number of people applying for each income band, it's clear the demand doesn't match the supply........Read More

Woodlawn Station Groundbreaking Highlights The Need For HUD Grants

April 20, 2017                              By:  Chuck Sudo

The skies were overcast and threatened rain on a blocklong stretch of 63rd Street in Woodlawn yesterday. But the collective smiles on the faces of dignitaries and guests at the groundbreaking of Woodlawn Station could have parted the clouds and forced the sun to shine.

Preservation of Affordable Housing President and CEO Aaron Gornstein, POAH Chicago Region Vice President Bill Eager and Ald. Willie Cochran (20th).

Woodlawn Station, at 63rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, is the latest development by the Preservation of Affordable Housing in the neighborhood that started with the 2008 acquisition of the former Chicago Housing Authority Grove Parc apartments. POAH's development activity was kick-started in 2012, when it was awarded a $30.5M HUD Choice Neighborhood Grant to build affordable housing in Woodlawn — a grant that is on the chopping block under President Donald Trump's proposed budget.  ................Read More

Ben Carson tours Miami housing complex built with grant Trump wants eliminated

April 13, 2017                             By: Douglas Hanks
Housing Secretary Ben Carson toured a Miami apartment complex Thursday that one of his hosts said wouldn’t exist without the federal program that the White House wants eliminated.

Linda McMahon, head of the Small Business Administration, and HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson share a laugh at the coffee bar at Versailles. C.M. GUERRERO

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article144518369.html#storylink=cpy

“This building wouldn’t have come to fruition without the HOME fund,” Stephanie Berman, president of Carrfour Supportive Housing, said a few steps from Carson during his tour of one of the charity’s Miami properties, the Villa Aurora apartments.

The $950 million HOME program would end under President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget for Housing and Urban Development, part of a 13 percent cut for the department that Carson heads........Read More

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article144518369.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article144518369.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article144518369.html#storylink=cpy