Be a part of HDC’s Asset Management & Portfolio Preservation (AMPP) Curriculum Class of 2014! Housing Development Center is accepting applications for its third round of AMPP, scheduled to begin October, 2012.

HDC’s AMPP Curriculum helps organizations build their asset management capacity - by establishing systems to analyze the physical and operational needs of portfolios and developing preservation plans for long-term viability. For complete details about the AMPP Curriculum, click here.

AMPP’s goal is to ensure that investments made in affordable housing over the last 20 years continue to be successful by providing non-profit owners and housing authorities the tools they need.

Most applicants apply for funding to participate in AMPP as part of OHCS’ GHAP Capacity Building Grant and that funding cycle is soon approaching. OHCS plans to post the GHAP Application sometime in April.

To find out about participating in HDC’s Asset Management & Portfolio Preservation Curriculum and for assistance with submitting a GHAP application, contact Kimberly Taylor at 503-335-3668 or kimberly@housingdevelopmentcenter.org.

On March 14^th Housing Development Center graduated its first AMPP class! Six organizations completed HDC’s 18-month Asset Management & Portfolio Preservation curriculum.

Participants, staff, board members and funders gathered to celebrate the occasion. Each organization shared the impact AMPP has had on them and reported on specific outcomes from the program. The results are astonishing. Jim Moorefield, Executive Director for Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services, reported that participating in HDC’s AMPP program has been the single biggest capacity-building effort of the organization during his 14 year tenure. Check out some of the performance outcomes for the Class of 2012!

Congratulations to -

Cascadia Behavioral Health

Catholic Charities

Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation

Farmworker Housing Development Corporation

Housing Authority of Yamhill County

Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services

Check out participant presentations to see how AMPP impacted these organizations: AMPP I Participant Impact Presentations.

HDC congratulates Human Solutions for this prestigious honor!

Bestowed by the National Community Development Association in Washington, D.C. , the Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award recognizes projects that make “exemplary use of Community Development Block Grant funds which address the needs of families, homes and neighborhoods.”

HDC provided financial structuring and construction management services for the Rockwood Building, which provides critically needed housing and social services to residents of one of Multnomah County’s poorest neighborhoods. This $16.9 million transit-oriented project, one of the first to break ground in the new Rockwood Urban Renewal Area, was completed last October. View more details here.

 “This project stood out for its very innovative use of funding and mix of key services in one place,” said NCDA Assistant Director Vicki Watson, quoted in a January 25 Oregonian article. “That’s something you don’t see every day, and we consider it a model other communities can learn from.” Read the full Oregonian article here.

Building on the work of Oregon’s Streamlining Compliance Initiative, a report issued by the federal Rental Policy Work Group used data assembled by Housing Development Center to argue for the elimination of redundant physical inspections of federally funded housing projects. (Read the full report here.)

Composed of representatives of the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC), National Economic Council (NEC), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Agriculture (USDA), and the Treasury, the Rental Policy Work Group is tasked with better aligning the operation of federal rental policy across agencies. Of 10 policy proposals in the December 31 report, Federal Rental Alignment: Administrative Proposals, the first addresses a primary concern of the Streamlining Compliance Initiative: eliminating redundant physical inspections.

“Today, a property that has multiple Federal funding sources may be subject to multiple physical inspections using multiple physical inspection standards,” the proposal states. “This proposal recommends that various Federal funding sources could reduce the frequency and number of inspections to no more than one Federally-sponsored visit to each property per year.”

The Rental Policy Work Group proposal affirms and magnifies the success of Oregon’s Streamlining Compliance Initiative, says HDC Asset Management Project Manager Emily Schelling. Launched in 2009, the Streamlining Compliance Initiative created a common set of compliance monitoring protocols for 10 agencies that distribute federal CDGB and HOME funds in Oregon—“participating jurisdictions” in federal parlance. Initiated by the Property and Asset Management Working Group and carried out over two years by representatives the 10 funding jurisdictions, the initiative sought to massively reduce costs borne by housing providers and funders for redundant physical inspections, file reviews and financial reports. Rolled out across the state this month, the program is expected to save Oregon’s affordable housing system $4 million per year.

“That this issue is being recognized as a high priority at the federal level shows that we’re working at the vanguard of improving rental housing practices,” says Schelling, one of several Housing Development staff who provided ongoing leadership and support to the statewide streamlining initiative.

The report also indicates that savings to the affordable housing system will greatly compound if the rest of the country follows Oregon’s lead.

“Per industry estimates of the cost of a Federal physical inspection for their properties, at an estimated cost of foregone staff time of $2,000/inspection, costs for 22,546 duplicative inspections could total up to $45 million per year, nationally,” the report states. “By conducting aligned inspections on just LIHTC combined funding properties, savings realized within one year would be up to approximately $24 million.”

The authors cite a Housing Development Center study as its source for the $2,000-per-inspection figure.

Schelling notes that Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), a key participant in the Streamlining Compliance Initiative, was particularly instrumental in moving the compliance-streamlining issue to the federal agenda. Outreach efforts by OHCS and HDC have already produced concrete results: in November, Oregon became one of eight states to join a HUD-sponsored pilot rollout of a national streamlining initiative. (See the December 21 news post on this page.)

Both locally and nationally, the benefits of these policy reform efforts go beyond saving money, Schelling emphasizes: “With a lighter administrative burden, property managers will be freed up to focus on core work, maintaining buildings and responding to tenant needs. And residents will be spared needless intrusions on their privacy. The result will be a better living environment for low-income residents—in Oregon and, soon, throughout the country.”

For more information about the Streamlining Compliance Initiative, contact Ryan Miller, manager of the Program Compliance Section, Asset & Property Management Division, Oregon Housing and Community Services (503-986-6748); Javier Mena, Program Manager, Asset Management & Loan Servicing, Portland Housing Bureau (503-823-3377); or contact your local HOME participating jurisdiction in Oregon. Questions about the origins of the Streamlining Compliance Initiative may be directed to Emily Schelling, Project Manager, Asset Management Program, Housing Development Center (503-335-3668).

HDC Special Projects Manager Carolyn O’Doherty is taking on a new project: getting the word out that the HDC Community Fund has capital it wants to lend.

“Our loan pool is twice the size it was last year, thanks to a $500,000 grant we received last July from the U.S. Treasury,” O’Doherty says. “We want to get that money moving forward projects in the community.”

A certified Community Development Financial Institution founded in 2009, the HDC Community Fund provides loans for property developments that serve low-income individuals and communities. To meet the unique needs of its market, the fund offers flexible payment terms, low interest rates and quick turnarounds. Loans support early, urgent and difficult-to-fund development costs, such as feasibility studies and property acquisition. They can also be used to bridge gaps in construction financing for up to three years.

Past loans from the HDC Community Fund have helped build 163 units of affordable housing and 25,000 square feet of service facility space since 2009, leveraging $38.4 million in permanent financing. Projects include Cascade Meadows, Hood River’s first affordable senior housing project, and the Rockwood Building, a mixed-use housing and multiservice center in Gresham.

With credit markets tight, O’Doherty wants not-for-profit organizations developing or preserving community facilities and affordable housing to know that for qualifying borrowers, the HDC Community Fund offers an alternative to conventional lending programs.

“We lend to public housing authorities, nonprofit housing developers, social service agencies and other nonprofits,” O’Doherty says. “If an organization is developing a property that serves low-income people, and it’s based in Oregon or southwest Washington, we may be able to help.” Projects must be located in one of 17 Oregon counties or three Washington counties; a map of eligible counties will soon be available on HDC’s web site.

O’Doherty adds, “And since we recently boosted our maximum loan size from $200,000 to $250,000, we can help more than ever.”

For more information, contact Carolyn O’Doherty, HDC Community Fund program development manager, at carolyn@housingdevelopmentcenter.org or 503-528-5186; or Daryn Murphy, HDC Community Fund underwriter, at daryn@housingdevelopmentcenter.org or 503-528-5183.

Active in the field of Low Income Housing Tax Credit-financed development, Aubré Dickson brings more than a decade of experience in lending and finance to his new role as HDC board member.

“We’re extremely pleased that Aubré has joined our team,” says HDC Executive Director Robin Boyce. “He knows the industry, he knows the community, and he brings expertise to the board in an area where HDC is very active: tax-credit financing.”

Dickson is acquisitions officer at National Equity Fund (NEF), a leading national syndicator of low-income housing tax credits with a large portfolio of projects across the Northwest. At NEF and formerly at Homestead Capital, he has closed nearly $50 million in equity, generating 484 units of affordable housing. Previously he held positions at First Independent Bank, US Bancorp and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, working in commercial lending and business financial planning. Dickson is a graduate of Portland State University, with a B.S. in Finance and Management. He earned his MBA in 2005.

Dickson is active in the Portland community: he serves on the African American Advisory Committee and board of the Portland Housing Center; the African American Mentorship Council and advisory board of Big Brother Big Sister of Columbia Northwest (he is also a Big Brother); and the boards of the Black Parent Initiative and the Portland State University Alumni Association.

Boyce emphasizes that in addition to expertise in LIHTC financing, Dickson will contribute valuable knowledge of affordable housing partners and policies across the Northwest to HDC’s board. “Aubré is familiar with housing sponsors and funders in Washington, Idaho and other areas where our Asset Management Services program, in particular, is active,” Boyce says.

Other significant assets: Dickson’s strong understanding of complex financial transactions and his experience in predevelopment lending while at Homestead Capital, which, like HDC’s affiliated HDC Community Fund, was certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

"Aubré adds exceptional value to HDC's board," Boyce says. "We look forward to working with him in the coming months."

Closing eight years of service on HDC’s board, Freddy Lunt attended her final board meeting on December 12, 2011.

“Freddy cares deeply about affordable housing; but just as important, she’s a great businesswoman,” says HDC Executive Director Robin Boyce. “We greatly value the sharp perspective she brought to problem solving around housing and real estate issues, and we’ll miss her dearly.”

Owner and CEO of Princeton Property Management, Lunt grew her Portland-based business into a market leader that manages more than 8,300 units of market rate and affordable housing. Past president of the Multifamily Housing Council and the Metro Multifamily Housing Association, Lunt was awarded the Ross Dey Award for Lifetime Achievement in the field of multifamily housing in 2009.  

At the December board meeting, Boyce and HDC Board President Bruce Whiting acknowledged Lunt’s extraordinary contributions to HDC. Since joining the board in 2003, Lunt served as board chair, vice chair, secretary/treasurer and member of the budget committee. She worked with each of HDC’s three executive directors, starting with founding ED Will White. Whiting noted Lunt’s central role in growing HDC’s asset management program, nearly doubling the organization’s annual budget and expanding the geographic reach of its programs. Boyce thanked Lunt for the counsel she provided on hiring decisions, staff leadership, being responsive to clients’ needs and evaluating the viability of prospective new lines of business.

“In addition to all of her leadership for the organization, I want to thank Freddy for her lessons on being an East Coast woman leader in Portland,” Boyce concluded. “Thank you, Freddy.”

Good ideas can be contagious. Starting January 1, 2012, the Streamlining Compliance Initiative will vastly reduce the costs of developing and managing affordable housing in Oregon by eliminating duplicative property inspections and reporting requirements. Now, seven other states, including Washington, will join Oregon in an effort to reproduce this initiative nationally. The goal: to consolidate affordable-housing property inspections required by the federal agencies HUD, USDA, and the IRS.

On November 7th, 2011, representatives of HUD, the City of Portland, and Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) met to sign a memo of understanding; the three parties agreed to participate in a pilot rollout of the national streamlining initiative. The City of Portland and OHCS have been working to integrate this effort with the Oregon Streamlining Compliance Initiative, with the intention of creating a seamless process for property owners and managers.

Congratulations to the members of Oregon’s Streamlining Compliance Initiative for their work promoting the streamlining concept nationally and providing models, templates, and concepts for the national effort. Thanks to Mary McBride, HUD Region X Director, and Robin Prichard, Portland HUD Field Office Director, for their support of the project. Finally, special thanks to Doug Carlson, Portland HUD CPD Field Office Director, Margaret Van Vliet, Director of OHCS, and Diana Koppes, OHCS Division Administrator, Asset and Property Management Division, for their tremendous support throughout the development of Oregon’s Streamlining Compliance Initiative.

The attached photo shows (left to right) Mary McBride, Region X Director and Robin Prichard, Portland Field Office Director for HUD, and Margaret Van Vliet, Oregon Housing and Community Services Director, signing the national Memorandum of Understanding. Says Doug Carlson, “The federal pilot is now official, thanks to all your (Housing Development Center’s) hard work!”

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that Cedar Sinai Park’s Kehillah Housing Project will receive HUD 811 funding, including a $1.878 million capital grant and rent subsidies—a major milestone for the planned 14-unit new development. Located on Cedar Sinai’s southwest Portland campus, the Kehillah Housing Project will provide needed independent housing for adults with developmental disabilities, while easing caregiving burdens on residents’ aging parents. Cedar Sinai has made a significant commitment to the project, dedicating land on its property and undertaking a successful capital campaign to fund construction. HDC has assisted in securing funds for the Kehillah Housing Project, including today’s HUD 811 award as well as funding from the City of Portland.  To read an article about the award from the Portland Jewish Review click here.

HDC welcomes Gail Monihan as the leader of our Asset Management Services program. Gail has 23 years of experience in affordable-housing asset management. In her previous position as Vice President at Capmark Affordable Equity, Gail oversaw the company’s portfolio of 500 properties and supervised a team of 12. Gail was responsible for developing Capmark’s asset management policies, including assessment of general partner capacity, and leading her team in property workouts. Prior to joining Capmark, Gail worked at PNC Multifamily Capital for 12 years, directing PNC’s tax credit compliance efforts, evaluating investment performance, and determining strategies for strengthening the operational performance of PNC’s portfolio, including executing dispositions and Year 15 exits. While at these LIHTC investment companies, Gail oversaw the development of database systems and improved reporting capabilities, enabling investors, managers, and other stakeholders to better understand the performance of properties. Previously, Gail has also worked for the Department of Communities and Development in Boston, MA, and for the AFL-CIO. Gail has a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Wellesley College and a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.