Affordable Housing

Low- and moderate-income housing, workforce housing, and mixed-use projects involve complex legal issues requiring innovative strategies from skilled practitioners. Greenberg Traurig’s capabilities in the multifaceted area of affordable housing and community development are complemented by our sophisticated transactional experience in structuring the acquisition, planning and development, and disposition of single and multi-family property assets, as well as providing related counsel on Americans with Disabilities Act, accessibility, and Fair Housing Act compliance, and environmental and zoning matters.

We regularly advise clients in a broad range of affordable housing, multifamily housing, and community development matters, which include federal, state, and local housing programs. Our integrated team of real estate, public finance, and tax attorneys assist clients in navigating these issues, including:

• Counseling nonprofit developers, for-profit developers, tax syndicators, investors, conduit issuers, bondholders, underwriters, lenders, and housing authorities in a variety of affordable housing financing structures.
• Advising tax credit equity investors, community development entities (CDEs), sponsors, qualified active low-income community businesses (QALICBs), and source lenders to capture new markets tax.
• Structuring public-private partnerships (P3s) for housing and community facilities.
• Advising on both 4% and 9% low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) to finance new and existing affordable housing developments.
• Advising with respect to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing programs, including 221(d)(4), 221(d)(3), and 223(f), including new loan origination, loan assumptions, and transfer of physical asset reviews.
• Advising clients on bridge-to-agency and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac permanent financing programs.
• Bond programs (taxable and tax-exempt bonds, 501(c)(3) bonds, and essential function bonds).
• Assisting developers in utilizing federal historic tax preservation incentives in addition to LIHTCs to finance the redevelopment of historic or landmarked properties into low- and middle-income housing.
• Leveraging alternative funds, including tax-increment financing (TIF), tax allocation district (TAD) bonds, and community development block grants.
• Financing for tribal developments, including HUD Title VI loan guarantees for housing, BIA loan guarantees, USDA rural development and USDA community facilities guarantee programs.
• Counseling developers, tax syndicators, investors, and housing authorities in mixed-finance program funded redevelopment of existing distressed public housing into revitalized mixed-income communities.
• Facilitating equity investment in designated community development entities (CDEs) to capture new markets tax.
• Credits and finance investment in low-income communities.
• Advising for-profit developers in public-private partnerships.
• Advising for-profit and nonprofit developers, tax syndicators, lenders, and equity investors on utilizing both 4% and 9% low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) to finance new and existing affordable housing developments.
• Assisting developers in utilizing federal historic tax preservation incentives in addition to LIHTCs to finance the redevelopment of historic or landmarked properties into low- and middle-income housing.
• Advising owners and developers with respect to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing programs, including 221(d)(4), 221(d)(3), and 223(f), including new loan origination, loan assumptions, and transfer of physical asset reviews.
• Advising clients into bridge-to-agency and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac permanent financing programs.
• Bond programs (taxable and tax-exempt bonds, 501(c)(3) bonds, and essential function bonds) along with various forms of credit enhancements.
• Debt and grants provided through local tax-increment financing (TIF) and tax allocation district (TAD) bonds.