Affordable housing

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.

California voters will weight a $6.4 billion bond measure in March that redirects money from an existing millionaire's tax supporting mental health programs.

In her State of the County address, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava unveiled plans to invest in housing, septic to sewer conversions, flood prevention, parks and other infrastructure.

Affordable housing expert Marian Zucker retired on Dec. 1 as head of S&P Global Rating's housing group after over 40 years of working in the public and private sectors of the municipal bond industry.

Cities and states in the Southwest are making affordable housing a funding priority through voter-approved general obligation bonds or in their budgets.

Research indicates office space conversions could be financed with bonds.

Bond Buyer Senior Reporter Keeley Webster shares an interview with California Treasurer Fiona Ma on her run for lieutenant governor as a prelude to a fireside chat Wells Fargo Director Julia Kim conducted with the state treasurer at The Bond Buyer's California Public Finance conference.

Mohamed Balla, Atlanta's CFO, talks about housing bonds and his participation in the recent National Association of Security Professionals' annual conference. Thomas Nocera hosts. (22 minutes)

Charles Treece and Azer Akhtar in Washington, D.C., and Jennifer Santangelo in Philadelphia have become partners at Ballard Spahr.

"Our ratings reflect the progress the city has made over time on important issues like rebuilding reserves and improving the health of our pension fund," said Philadelphia Treasurer Jackie Dunn.

Providing enough housing for middle class and homeless people has topped legislative agendas in three West Coast states and Hawaii this session.