Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Volume 9 Issue 4

By preserving history, Sunflower Development Group is creating affordable senior housing in the Tri-Blenheim neighborhood of Kansas City, Mo. 

When RDC Development Corp. renovates affordable housing with a “tenant-in-place” approach, it means that almost literally.

Question: Can a new markets tax credit (NMTC) qualified equity investment (QEI) also qualify for qualified opportunity zones (OZ) incentives?Answer: There is nothing in the OZ statute that precludes a QEI from qualifying for OZ incentives. However, OZ is a new tax law and it is expected that guidance will be issued by Treasury. This guidance could impose restrictions. 

One year after the largest round in new markets tax credit (NMTC) history, community development entities (CDEs) are still hungry. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is expected to release income limits for 2018 on March 30, giving public housing authorities (PHAs) and affordable property owners guidelines by which to set tenant income restrictions and in some cases maximum gross rent for their properties. 

California state Sen. Scott Wiener introduced Feb. 20 Senate Bill 1399. The legislation would expand access to offsite solar projects for non-residential customers by allowing them to partner with already-developed sites such as parking lots, warehouses, brownfields and landfills, and use those sites for solar energy that the local community can access. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to ensure that the credit reflects the full value of the electricity from the eligible renewable generating facilities, and that the credit is established using the same methodology as used to determine credits under the standard contract or tariff for eligible customer-generators. Sen. Wiener said in a press release that to meet aggressive renewable energy goals, California needs to dramatically expand solar, including maximizing use of our empty rooftops and other developed spaces. He added that the bill would spur the generation of more clean energy and create more good-paying solar installation jobs in communities throughout the state.

Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) and JPMorgan Chase (Chase) announced development plans Jan. 25 for the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) Ozone Park Industrial Center in Queens, N.Y. The plan with GMDC will transform an 88,500-square-foot historic former bicycle factory into 25 rental units. There will be affordable workspaces for 25 small businesses, which will create 80 permanent jobs. Financing includes $10.5 million in new markets tax credit (NMTC) equity, with the NMTC allocation of $10 million from Enterprise, $17 million from the New York City Economic Development Corporation and $4 million from Chase Bank. In addition, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, a national community development financial institution (CDFI) and a subsidiary of Enterprise, will provide an $8.7 million loan with the participation of CDFIs Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. The city will provide $3.7 million in subordinate debt financing, as well as a $10 million grant as part of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Industrial Developer Fund. New York state agency Empire State Development awarded a $2.1 million grant. Construction is scheduled to be complete in early 2019.***The Economic Report of the President was released Feb. 22. The report discusses the importance of programs that drive private investment into distressed communities and specifically mentions the new markets tax credit (NMTC) as arguably the most successful of those

The former Schmulbach headquarters, built in 1905 in Wheeling, W.Va., will be rehabilitated and redeveloped into 90 market-rate apartments and ground-floor retail. Federal and state historic tax credits (HTCs) were announced for the development late February. The building, also home to the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel building in the 1940s, will provide both one- and two-bedroom apartments, and construction costs are expected to be $20 million.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released Jan. 25 the report, “Rental Housing: Improvements Needed to Better Monitor the Moving to Work Demonstration, Including Effects on Tenants.” Because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development‘s (HUD’s) oversight of the Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration has been limited, GAO released the report to indicate areas in need of improvement. GAO found that while HUD has taken steps to address staffing to oversee the current 39 MTW agencies, HUD has not finalized its workforce planning for 100 agencies to be added to the demonstration. In addition, without a monitoring process, HUD can’t provide reasonable assurance that MTW agencies have sound plans for expending reserves. Also, HUD does not assess the results of agencies’ analyses. GAO makes 11 recommendations to HUD, which include completing workforce planning, developing processes to track use of funds and monitor agencies’ reserves, and developing a framework. HUD generally agreed with eight of the recommendations and disagreed with three, citing the need for flexibility. The report is available at www.hudresourcecenter.com.

New Hampshire Housing issued a memo to owners and management agents Feb. 9 on 2018 utility allowances. New Hampshire Housing 2018 utility allowances are now on the agency’s website and were effective Feb. 1. Low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) properties must implement changes in utility allowances to compute gross rents within 90 days of the effective date.