Affordable housing

Facing big demand for housing, the state's efforts to spur development have spurred litigation by cities challenging recent laws and a compliance crackdown.

The Chicago City Council passed Mayor Brandon Johnson's green affordable housing plan, to be seeded with $135 million from 2024's $1.25 billion bond ordinance.

Attracting more private investment to the affordable housing sector is becoming more urgent with the reintroduction of a bill in the Senate that could spur the use of private activity bonds.

The state hopes bonds and associated incentives will help to address a state-wide housing shortage.

Housing advocates concerned about the fate of private activity bonds are working on strategies for getting PABs and tax-exempt munis off the table while Congress searches for ways to pay for tax cut extensions.

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act is reintroduced in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support to increase the development of affordable housing by leveraging private activity bonds and loosening restriction on Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

As the Trump administration fills out it cabinet positions, advocates for housing affordability are feeling hopeful but cautious.

The legislative reconciliation process will move fast and cutting the budget is in vogue. As such, we must recalibrate our goals as an industry to reflect the new political paradigm.

Redevelopment 3.0 should focus on providing a permanent, reliable source of equity with which to build a sustainable pipeline of affordable housing projects.

AHCIA has languished since 2016 — is it time to consider alternatives?

The possibility of moving stalled housing bills forward combined with promises of down payment assistance is offering hope to housing advocates.

The plan would raise about $100 million a year to create and preserve affordable housing.

Undersubscribed funding opportunities are blocked by regulation.

St. John's Lutheran Church in Madison is redeveloping its property to build affordable housing blocks from the Capitol in the booming East Washington corridor.

Signature Bank owned nearly $15 billion of mortgages across four of New York's five boroughs, making it the largest lender to rent-regulated housing in the city.

"The Maryland SmartBuy program is designed to help first-time home buyers who have student loan obligations qualify for acquisition financing under the Maryland Mortgage Program," said the CFO of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. 

Steven Mahr moved to Chicago two years ago, and in March, he moved from Stifel to the city's finance department, where he's now happily tackling tough problems.

The bond plan, a key priority for Mayor Brandon Johnson, will be paid for with revenue gained by letting tax increment financing districts expire.

The Inflation Reduction Act, affordable housing and clean energy were among the topics discussed at Baker Tilly's DevelUP conference in Chicago this week.

FEMA, state and cities have been in a dispute over federal funding locals say was promised to place homeless people in hotels after the pandemic struck. Officials say the recent outlay doesn't cover the disputed time frame.