This headline from last week would naturally grab the attention of any CED professional: “Affordable mobile homes are disappearing in Asheville; code change could bring some back.” Housing is a basic issue for anyone interested in CED. Behind the headline are a host of issues that both foster hope i … Continued

Mobile homes are a vital but generally unloved part of North Carolina’s affordable housing stock. They come to public attention in times of extreme weather, particularly high winds and floods. Their condition and location make them especially vulnerable to damage, and often their occupants – the eld … Continued

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 mechani … Continued

In the Town of Carol-Blue, Donny, a local community developer, finds himself in a really tough position. Both the county and city budgets are constrained and the challenges the town face economically seem only to grow in size. After performing an analysis of senior housing demand, he realizes that t … Continued

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 Brownfi … Continued

Previous posts to this blog looked at food deserts and development finance tools that can be used to address food deserts. This post provides an in-depth look at the story of a cooperative grocer in Greensboro that aims to eliminate its neighborhood’s food desert and spur economic development.. The … Continued

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 th … Continued

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. The Process The flow chart below  illustrates the basic uses of funds during a New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC proj … Continued

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 was enacted b … Continued

This post is part of a series (Part I here and Part II here) on the Town of Hillsborough’s implementation of special assessment project financing. Part II mentioned the lengthy process to coordinate the thoughtful deliberation of the town’s policy. So far the series has differentiated the special as … Continued