Posts on Financing Development

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  • What’s the deal with modular construction?

    In May of this year, Marriott International announced that it would ramp up the use of modular construction in its hotels. Marriott said they anticipated signing on at least 50 hotels in 2017 alone that would be primarily modular, citing that this type of construction would enable them to [more…]

  • Legal and Business Reasons Why Downtown Development Programs Should Involve Secured Loans—Not Grants

    Dr. Blaine Beeper is a retired hospital administrator who was recently elected to council in the Town of Bushwood. Dr. Beeper thinks he has figured out how to jumpstart revitalization of Bushwood’s historic downtown. He proposes for the Town to offer annual cash grants to any owner who redevelops [more…]

  • Federal Housing Finance Options for Mixed-Use Development

    Federal housing finance policies and programs exist to provide financing for the acquisition and construction of homes and boost investment in the housing industry. While a variety of housing loan products exist, a report released by the Regional Plan Association (RPA) in February 2016 highlighted the unintended consequences of [more…]

  • Legislative Changes Affecting the Tools in the North Carolina Water Finance Toolbox

    Water and wastewater utilities have a wide range of capital project needs. Most utilities have existing assets (treatment plants, water storage tanks, underground lines) that have reached the end of their functional life and need significant rehabilitation and replacement investment. Some utilities also have capital investment needs that are [more…]

  • 4% LIHTC Use in North Carolina’s Triangle Region

    A Brief Introduction to the 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Development of low-income housing in the United States continues to be a challenge for local governments, affordable housing developers, and policy advocates. Institutional, market, and financing obstacles are all barriers to increasing the supply of affordable housing. Since the [more…]

  • Conveyance of property in a public-private partnership for a “downtown development project”

    Downtowns across America are experiencing a renaissance. Population growth in downtowns has outpaced growth in the broader regions in which those downtowns are located. North Carolina downtowns are likewise experiencing record growth. To capitalize on this renewed interest in downtowns, private developers and local governments are increasingly seeking to [more…]

  • Boosting LIHTC: Difficult Development Areas & Qualified Census Tracts

    The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program was designed to encourage the private development of affordable rental housing in the United States. (If you are new to LIHTC, check out the CED blog’s primer on low-income housing tax credits before proceeding.)   But even with the dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax liability, [more…]

  • How a Mezzanine Loan Can Reduce Equity Requirements, Boost Returns, and Attract Investment to a Redevelopment Project

    The Parker Building is a two-story, 8,000-SF brick building in downtown Milliganton, NC. The building is subdivided into two small retail tenant spaces, but for the most part it is an empty shell. Despite having been mostly vacant for the last several decades, the building is in good shape.  [more…]

  • A Little Slice of Heaven: A Primer on Air Rights in Development

    Common law holds that once person owns a piece of land “it is theirs all the way to Heaven.” In a modern development environment, however, the transfer of air rights—fee simple title to a three dimensional space located at a precisely defined location—between owners is becoming increasingly common. Today [more…]

  • The Birth of a New Federal Water and Wastewater Financing Program — WIFIA Arrives

    What is WIFIA? WIFIA stands for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, the name of the federal act that authorized an interesting new federally managed water and wastewater infrastructure funding mechanism. WIFIA includes both direct loans and a new credit enhancement/guarantee mechanism (more on WIFIA guarantees in a [more…]

  • Reshaping Suburban Spaces

    There is no constant in community. Population ebbs and flows; market preferences shift; the economy fluctuates. Each community evolves. In many suburban places across North Carolina—indeed, across the U.S.—that evolution includes a move toward more density, more mixed uses, and more connected neighborhoods. Communities are grappling with questions about [more…]

  • New Report Highlights Public-Private Partnerships

    The Urban Land Institute (ULI) recently published an updated guide to Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) that introduces their varied forms, their utility to both the public and private sectors, and examples of successful P3s from around the county. The report offers insights to local government staff and elected officials as [more…]

  • Upfront Charges for Local Government Water and Sewer Capital

    In the wake of a recent North Carolina Supreme Court decision invalidating certain water and sewer fees (Quality Built Homes, Inc. v. Town of Carthage), counties and municipalities across the state have been taking a closer look at their own fee schedules. (A summary of the case and its [more…]

  • Solar Schools and Environmental Finance

    North Carolina is one of the leading states in the country when it comes to installing solar energy. The growth of solar in North Carolina has been a fascinating opportunity to study the impact of different environmental finance systems. While the financial incentives and environmental finance systems available to [more…]

  • Flexible Opportunities in North Carolina’s Brownfields Program

    In the past the CED blog has explored the basics of brownfields programs in North Carolina, how they are administered and implemented, and their role in revitalizing communities. In this edition, we’re looking at two innovative facets of the state Brownfield’s program that were developed to better respond to [more…]

  • EPA Resources on Smart Growth Economic Development

    Many small towns and rural areas had an economy that was built on a single economic sector (for example, logging, mining, or manufacturing) that has changed significantly by technology and/or market forces, leaving residents without jobs and governments without a healthy tax base.  Some communities respond with an economic [more…]

  • Conveyance of Local Government Property for Affordable Housing

    A developer of affordable housing for low and moderate income persons has approached the City and County about an affordable housing project near the City’s downtown. The developer’s plan is to acquire and assemble two adjacent parcels—one owned by the City and one owned by the County—and then develop [more…]

  • EB-5 Visa Program Helps Fund NC Charter Schools

    The CED blog has written previously about the EB-5 program, which as a reminder allows foreign national to obtain a green card for themselves and their families in exchange for an investment in the United States of either $1 million, or $500,000 in an area that is designated as particularly [more…]

  • Renewed Funding Extends New Market Tax Credit Program Through 2019

    The CED blog has previously written about the importance of New Market Tax Credits, and their place in the process for developing real estate transactions (a primer can be found here, and a discussion of the process for investment can be found here).  Briefly, these credits are designed to drive [more…]

  • A Primer on Applying for Historic Tax Credits and the National Historic Register

    In development, it is often easier to start from scratch – buy a property, clear the land, and begin building the structure you want.  In fact, this is frequently the most cost effective way to develop a property: old structures can literally be ‘messy,’ with major deferred maintenance, old [more…]

  • Brownfields Programs as a Revitalization Tool: NC Case Studies

    Last month the CED blog published an overview of Federal and State Brownfields programs and how these programs can assist in remediating and revitalizing tough-to-develop sites that  are plagued by environmental contamination. This post will provide two case examples of how the US EPA and NC Brownfields Program have [more…]

  • Report: The Unintended Consequences of Housing Finance

    The Unintended Consequences of Housing Finance is a recent report by the Regional Plan Association that addresses the negative externalities of certain federal housing finance rules, and myriad methods to address these externalities through rule changes and amendments. Perhaps it is not immediately apparent how financing rules can have [more…]

  • How to Use Federal and State Brownfields Programs to Accomplish a Community Revitalization Project

    Learning that a site for redevelopment is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination can be one of the biggest barriers to community revitalization. Brownfield sites, which are defined by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality as “abandoned, idled or underused properties where the threat of environmental contamination [more…]

  • More Federal Funding Available to Grow Clean Energy Small Businesses

    Back in September, this blog highlighted a new program from US EPA to work with small businesses nationwide to develop and commercialize technologies that tackle critical environmental problems:  the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.  Now the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has [more…]

  • http://www.weichertcorporatehousing.com/locations/dc/washington-dc/avalon-first-and-m

    Tools for financing development in revitalization areas: HUD Multifamily Loan Products

    Many people are familiar with HUD FHA mortgage insurance programs for single-family housing. These programs insure mortgages for lenders providing loans to single-family home borrowers and have been a significant driver in shaping the housing and mortgage markets in the United States over the last 80+ years. In addition [more…]

  • New SEC Rules Play to the Crowd

    Crowdfunding, a method of raising money over the Internet, usually in modest increments from large numbers of individuals, has been around for almost 20 years. Informed cultural critics (and now, readers of this blog) often point to British neo-prog rock band Marillion’s 1997 email plea to fans for advance [more…]

  • Reimbursement Agreements

    A developer in town is seeking approval for a large new real estate project. The zoning and subdivision ordinances call for the developer to construct and dedicate public streets and parks and water infrastructure. But, the city has plans for some additional improvements adjacent to the development—a greenway on [more…]

  • Public-Private Partnerships: Universities & Private Developers

    University enrollments are at an historic high and an increased student population requires that universities grow in other areas as well, such as housing and facilities. In recent years, universities have been partnering with private developers to advise and help them manage this growth. Previous posts on this blog [more…]

  • U.S. EDA Resources Help Communities Build the Local Ecosystem for Sustainable Economic Development

    It takes a multitude of resources, dedicated professionals, and committed organizations to promote economic development. Successfully realizing the economic potential of a place requires doing the hard work of leveraging all existing regional assets to build the environment, or ecosystem, where business can flourish, jobs are created, and citizens [more…]

  • Commenting on the NC Qualified Allocation Plan

    Every year the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) reviews the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) that describes the selection criteria for developers submitting projects for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). LIHTC credits provide developers the ability to feasibly develop affordable housing. During the revision process, developers can submit comments [more…]

  • Changes to Municipal Service District (MSD) Authority

    In the state budget bill, S.L. 2015-241, the legislature made a few changes to municipal service district (MSD) authority. An MSD is a defined area within a municipality in which the unit’s governing board levies an additional property tax in order to provide projects or extra services that benefit [more…]

  • Local Government Economic Development Powers “Clarified”

    On October 20, 2015, the Governor signed Session Law (S.L.) 2015-277, placing into effect several “clarifications” to the primary economic development statute used by local governments, G.S. Chapter 158, Article 1, “The Local Development Act of 1925.” The modifications fall into three categories: first, broad discretionary language was removed; [more…]

  • New Rules on Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, and Where Credits are Due

    North Carolina’s historic rehabilitation tax credits program—a critical tool for communities around the state that sought to put historic structures to productive economic use—expired on December 31, 2014. The credits are back, though they differ in some important ways from those that existed prior to 2015. This post explains [more…]

  • Cash Grants for Real Estate Developers without Competition for Jobs—A Constitutional Quandary

    A local real estate developer, Al Czervik, proposes to construct a mixed-use development with residential, office, and retail space. The city council likes the development plan because it is consistent with the council’s vision for the area. Czervik, seeing incentives being offered to convince companies to locate in North [more…]

  • How a Local Government Loan Can Make a Revitalization Project Possible

    An historic manufacturing building in the town of Sunrise, North Carolina, is in disrepair. There are holes in the roof, standing water in the basement. Residents treasure the 3,500 square foot building and public officials want to see it redeveloped and contribute to the revitalization of their historic downtown, [more…]

  • Five Dangerous Myths for Small Water Systems

    Small water systems serving 10,000 people or less comprise more than 94% of our nation’s public water systems. They are a large and diverse group, and are managed by a wide variety actors – from local and tribal governments, to mobile home park owners, to homeowners associations, to shopping [more…]

  • Civic Crowdfunding

    Earlier posts on this blog have explored the idea of crowdfunding and its legal implications, growing popularity as a source of capital, and use in supporting local businesses. As these posts explained, crowdfunding is the concept of online fundraising from a pool of many different donors or investors. These online [more…]

  • Can Community Ownership Eliminate Food Deserts?

    A previous post to this blog looked at development finance tools that can be used to address food deserts. This post introduces new findings about food deserts and looks at a cooperative grocer in Greensboro that aims to eliminate its neighborhood’s food desert and spur economic development. “Give a [more…]

  • Redevelopment Case Studies of Victorian-Era Psychiatric Facilities

    Earlier this month, a post on CED in NC provided an overview of the redevelopment of Victorian-era psychiatric facilities.  Many historic psychiatric institutions throughout the country have closed, leaving large, architecturally significant buildings on vast campuses behind. The redevelopment of these facilities generally requires public-private partnerships, non-traditional financing, and creative [more…]

  • Leasing Historic Tax Credit Property to Local Governments: Disqualified Lease Rules

    Previous blog posts have looked at how communities can redevelop historic properties through the creation of public-private partnerships as well as how IRS rules affect the allocation of historic rehabilitation tax credits to investors in redevelopment projects. This blog post explores what happens when properties utilizing federal historic tax [more…]

  • A Thousand Acres and Half a Million Square Feet: Redevelopment of Victorian-Era Psychiatric Facilities

    Shuttered psychiatric facilities provide endless material for macabre imaginations. However, for creative communities and developers, these historic facilities also inspire ideas for uses like recreation, housing, healthcare, education, or retail. Many states built grand psychiatric facilities in the late 1800s and early 1900s in response to reform work led [more…]

  • New Markets Tax Credits: The Process and Key Considerations

    This blog post is a follow up to the Primer on New Markets Tax Credits. This is the second in a series of posts that seek to provide detailed information on the NMTC program and process.

  • Primer on New Markets Tax Credits

    New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) are mentioned in several other blog posts, but normally as part of a list of various development financing tools. This is the first in a series of posts that seek to provide detailed information on the NMTC program and process. Background The NMTC program [more…]

  • Conveyance of Local Government Property to Nonprofit EDC for Industrial Park

    Ray Kinsella leads the nonprofit economic development corporation (the “EDC”) that was jointly formed by the county and its largest city in the early 2000s, and that is now governed by an independent board of directors. Ray has heard some optimistic forecasts of “re-shoring” of manufacturing facilities to the [more…]

  • Local Government Strategies for Mitigating the Risks of Flooding

    With six feet (and counting) of snow on the ground in Boston, the only thing that local officials should fear as much or more than more snow is a heat wave. If it doesn’t melt slowly, communities and homeowners will have to deal with significant flooding. In an area [more…]

  • CDFI Profile: The Natural Capital Investment Fund

    A previous blog post discussed the role of Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, in North Carolina. CDFIs are typically smaller financial institutions that engage in mission-driven lending intended to expand access to capital in low-wealth and underserved communities in order to foster economic development and revitalization. CDFIs are [more…]

  • Incentives as a Public Investment

    State and local governments are getting smarter about how they use financial and tax incentives to support economic development. As incentive deals face greater scrutiny, public officials can take a number of steps to ensure that they are: 1) getting the best returns on the investment of public dollars, [more…]

  • Sale of Historic Structures by NC Local Governments for Redevelopment

    Almost ten years ago, in the town of Bushwood, North Carolina, the “generous” owner of the historic textile mill building just off Main Street donated the property to the town (it was difficult to maintain and the owner didn’t want to pay property taxes on it any more). The [more…]

  • Many Mini-Bonds in the Mile High City

    $12 million in one hour: That’s not a report of the ticket sales for the Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s Greensboro show last week. That is how much the City of Denver raised directly from the citizens of Colorado for the final phase of its Better Denver capital campaign [more…].

  • Property Tax Exemptions and Community Economic Development

    North Carolina property tax law, nicknamed the Machinery Act, contains over 60 full or partial exemptions for property as diverse as free drug samples, uranium 233, and Loyal Order of the Moose clubhouses. A number of these exemptions are aimed at property that might be part of a local [more…]

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