Strengthening Organizations
Helping mission-driven organizations build and finance brick-and-mortar projects is just part of what we do at Housing Development Center. On a broader scale, we work to strengthen the community development industry as a whole. Below, see some of the ways we've helped organizations and industry groups boost their effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Visit our Asset Management and Program and Policy Development pages to learn more.
Streamlining Compliance Initiative
Objective: In partnership with the Property and Asset Management Work Group, HDC convened major affordable housing funders in Oregon to address an urgent need: reduce millions of dollars in unnecessary costs, borne by project sponsors and funders alike, resulting from redundant funding compliance and reporting obligations.
Outcome: Three years of work by HDC and the Funders Work Group resulted in an integrated statewide property inspection and reporting system. At the heart of this new system is the Annual Property Report, a single compliance report that meets requirements of key funders across Oregon. This groundbreaking effort goes live in January 2012.
Learn more about Streamlining Compliance.
Portfolio-Wide Capital Needs Assessment
Client: City of Portland
Objective: Concerned about its aging housing portfolio and several recent costly building envelope failures, the City of Portland sought to better understand the physical condition of its housing portfolio and plan for future capital needs.
Outcome: Using existing data, owner surveys, and direct property inspections, HDC developed a property database and a portfolio-wide cost estimate of needed improvements to 160 City-funded housing projects. This work will inform the City’s subsequent set-aside of resources for portfolio preservation.
Related results: Working with the Oregon Opportunity Network, HDC hosted a statewide work session to share the lessons we learned with property sponsors. Based on the City of Portland’s experience, the Oregon Housing and Community Services is now applying our assessment methodology to properties across the state.
Affordable Rental Housing Portfolio Financial Sustainability Assessment
Clients: King County, City of Seattle, and Washington Department of Commerce
Objective: To determine how well its portfolio of 13,000 affordable housing units was faring financially and delivering on policy objectives, three jurisdictions serving King County hired HDC (in collaboration with Impact Capital) to perform a comprehensive risk and public benefit assessment.
Outcome: In addition to answering King County’s questions, our report identified industry-wide challenges, raised awareness of existing affordable housing needs in the region, and supported a successful application for a $1 million MacArthur Foundation grant, which is funding work by Washington nonprofits to enhance long-term management and preservation of affordable rental housing.
Download the King County Portfolio Study.
Report on Improving Utilization of Project-Based Rental Assistance
Client: Home Forward
Objective: Home Forward, Multnomah County’s housing authority, needed data on project-based rent subsidies intended to serve the county’s chronically homeless population. Were the subsidies delivering desired results, and could outcomes be improved?
Outcome: Collecting and analyzing extensive data gathered from housing and service providers under contract with Home Forward, HDC delivered clear recommendations that providers adopted; these simple, workable operational changes significantly increased subsidy utilization rates.
LIHTC Year 15 Assessment
Objective: In 2006, Oregon’s first Low Income Housing Tax Credit-funded projects were reaching the end of their Initial Compliance Period (Year 15). To preserve these critical housing assets, public agencies and property owners needed to plan for and implement appropriate policy changes and best practices.
Outcome: HDC inventoried all Year 15 projects in Oregon, created a project owners’ work group, and devised tools to aid project owners in completing the Year 15 exits, including a step-by-step guide. Owing in part to our proactive efforts, Oregon Housing and Community Services adopted new policies that preserved dozens of at-risk affordable housing properties.