AHF’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards Finalists
Thirty-six developments have been named AHF’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards Finalists. Each development was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 or 2021 and built for families, seniors, homeless people, and people with special needs. With over 20 HAND Members represented in at least one of the finalist developments, HAND is proud to highlight our members who have contributed to the development of those projects. Check out the full listing developments here.
If you are an AHF magazine and newsletter subscriber then you can vote for the winners beginning on August 2nd until August 20th. The winners will be recognized at AHF Live: The 2021 Affordable Housing Developers Summit, on November 15-17, 2021 in Chicago.
The HAND network is hard at work to address the growing housing affordability challenge across the Capital Region. Five Minutes With is a series highlighting these members and other stakeholders. This informal conversation delves into their recent projects, the affordable housing industry, and more. In the latest edition, we have a conversation with Georgetown University’s Law Professor Anthony Cook. Cook chatted with us about his journey and how he landed in the community development industry. He explains the origin story of GateBridge, his forthcoming affordable housing community that will provide opportunities for renters to become homeowners and workers to become business owners. He highlights what sets GateBridge apart from other communities. Check out our dialogue below:
HAND: Tell us a bit about your journey. You have a really interesting story and extensive experience in a number of fields – can you speak to how you landed in the community development industry?
AC:I was born in the small rural community of Magnolia, MS. It was a community of mutual aid associations and relationships that had the church at its core. While none of us called it this at the time, I later came to understand it was, in fact, a community of residents engaged in a practice of community development: building and renovating each others’ houses; borrowing tools and lending expertise and assistance on a wide range of endeavors – from homestead repairs to quilting and canning vegetables, from growing crops, slaughtering hogs, and sharing with those in need to co-parenting and providing employment and enrichment opportunities for children. On the other hand, it was Mississippi, and one of my earliest childhood memories was of a cross being burned across the road in the churchyard – one of many threats against Black churches and communities involved in the civil rights movement and demanding the right to vote and equal rights. The community came together in many different ways to protect itself against domestic terrorists who intended to undermine democracy and harm our community. It was a tumultuous time, as are the times in which we live today, but growing up in that community taught me the importance of simultaneously building community through what we now call placemaking and establishing the necessary preconditions for communities and individuals to flourish. These were the laws, policies, structures, and systems that impacted life and opportunities within our community. So, in many ways, community development, a very rich and textured understanding of the term, is part of my DNA, and I have Magnolia, Mississippi to thank for that.
HAND: Let’s talk about GateBridge. How did it come about?
AC: As a Georgetown law professor, I’ve practiced and taught in the field of community development and affordable housing for many years. I understand the limitations and often contradictory policies around affordable housing for low-income and workforce populations. This work has led me to believe that building more affordable units is a necessary but insufficient solution to our present crisis in affordable housing, particularly as a tool for fighting poverty. The crisis facing under and disinvested communities are complex and intertwined. Poverty is highly racialized, place-based, gendered, and age-concentrated. These populations need quality housing in a stable and secure environment that furthers health and wellbeing, access to nutritious food, living wage jobs, and home and business ownership opportunities. All of these are interrelated parts of a larger problem sitting at the intersection of poverty and longstanding structural and systemic racism. In the future, affordable housing solutions will need to anchor affordable developments with the kind of robust placemaking that expands the capacity of residents and community to tackle these interrelated problems. GateBridge is a vision of how this can be accomplished – affordable residential units anchored by an incubator for placemaking and the kind of cooperative and community enterprise development needed to build the entrepreneurial capacity of residents to find solutions to problems confronted by their communities. It was this kind of rich and intentional placemaking and economic ecosystem that made it possible for a kid like me to thrive, despite growing up poor in one of the poorest states in the country. I believe these communities can do the same for others.
HAND: What sets GateBridge apart from other communities?
SK: GateBridge is a community of change-makers. It promotes multifamily limited-equity cooperatives anchored by an incubator for cooperative and other community businesses. GateBridgebuilds resident and community wealth by providing an opportunity for renters to become homeowners and workers to become business owners.
HAND: What excites you about this community? What challenges do you foresee?
AC: GateBridge Communities center placemaking as an indispensable tool for impacting under and disinvested communities. Only by building the capacities of residents to plan and execute their own community development can initiatives become sustainable. Sustainability is crucial to any long-term effort to reform structures, systems, and practices in place for generations. The primary challenge for GateBridge is building its balance sheet and finding balance sheet partners that can help expand our capacity to build a portfolio of GateBridge communities in the DMV and region.
HAND: What is one thing you wish you would have known at the beginning of your career?
AC: I wish I had appreciated then, as I do now, the vital need for legislative reforms in this space. In many ways, the system creating affordable housing shortages and our present crisis is designed to do exactly what it is doing. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result. Innovations in the market are possible around the edges, and GateBridge stretches the existing system to its limits, but to scale GateBridge-like innovations requires a different system of financing affordable housing. It requires recalibrating priorities around brick and mortar development on the one hand and human development on the other. Like GateBridge, the human development component can no longer be an afterthought. It must be an integral part of development, built into the capital stack and funded with the precision and care of the building itself.
HAND: As someone who took somewhat of an untraditional route into community development, what do you think is the largest hurdle when it comes to creating and preserving affordable housing across our region?
AC: Access to low cost and less extractive capital is essential. Federal funding programs like LIHTC make the construction and preservation of affordable housing much more complicated than it needs to be, largely because financing structures based around tax credit incentives serve the interests of an investor class over those of local communities. Low-interest federal loans channeled through community financial institutions to vetted and approved local developers, preferably those with a strong track record in the community, should cover ninety percent and more of the total cost of qualifying developments. Revising affordable housing financing structures would go a long way in meeting the demand for affordable and secure housing. Furthermore, there should be pathways to at least limited equity ownership for residents of multifamily units.
HAND: What is your “why”? What keeps you motivated to continue your work in this space?
AC: Many BIPOC communities have been devastated by a long history of policies originating beyond their communities: urban renewal, investment in suburban growth and the disinvestment in urban centers, redlining, gentrification, and inefficient neo-liberal, supplyside tax credit programs that have benefitted those not residing in under and disinvested communities more than it has benefited those within the communities. The pendulum must swing back in the direction of community-generated affordable housing anchored by the kind of placemaking and community wealth building envisioned by a GateBridge Community.
HAND: Do you believe there is a “secret sauce” to addressing housing affordability? If so, what do you think that is?
AC: Community-based access to long-term, low-cost, debt financing that covers at least ninety percent of the costs of producing affordable housing, along with funding for metrics-driven, evidence-based human development supports that improve residents’ quality of life and helps move them to greater self-sufficiency.
HAND: What is one thing most people don’t know about you? Do you have any hidden talents?
AC: I love traveling, fine dining, music, and stimulating conversation around visionary ideas and the nitty-gritty of bringing them to life.
It has been a challenging time for housing and community development nonprofits as demand for our work has increased, but resources have diminished. However, now more than ever, we know that a safe, affordable home is an important foundation for any individual or family – and our work must continue as our communities are relying on us. Here to help your nonprofit thrive is the Virginia Community Development Corporation (VCDC)’s Mission Elevation program. The year – long program brings together a cohort of like- minded organizations and provides access to custom mentoring & tools to help your nonprofit strategically face the top challenge impeding mission & impact in the communities you serve.
Learn more and apply today (applications are accepted on a rolling basis until a cohort is formed):
http://www.vibrantcommunities.us/resource/mission-elevation-program
Scott Kline (President & CEO)
The HAND network is hard at work to address the growing housing affordability challenge across the Capital Region. Five Minutes With is a series highlighting these members and other stakeholders. This informal conversation delves into their recent projects, the affordable housing industry, and more. In the latest edition, we have a conversation with Stratis’ Scott Kline (President & CEO). Kline chatted with us about his extensive work experience in the housing and community development industry. He also highlighted the challenges he foresees for himself as he begins a new chapter of his career. Check out our dialogue below:
HAND: You have extensive experience in the housing/community development industry – can you tell us about your journey to this point?
SK: Sure! My dad was a small developer down in southern Virginia. Growing up I frequently worked for him on weekends and over summers. I really enjoyed the real estate development process – starting with nothing (new construction) or a mess (renovation) and transforming it into something new and beautiful. With the combination of so many disciplines: architecture, construction, law, finance, asset management – it never got boring. And the smell of construction!!! When I graduated from college, I knew I wanted to work in the development business in the DC metropolitan area, which proved more difficult than expected. I started working for a builder of new homes as an accountant, in hopes that I would be able to progress into actual development. After two years, I realized that was a dead end. From there I worked as an investment analyst for another large developer, until the Tax Reform Act of 1986 put them out of business and I was without a job. It was then that I saw an advertisement for a position with responsibilities that included: negotiating for the acquisition of projects, developing scopes of work and financing plans, and project management. It was for a “nonprofit” organization called AHC formally known as Arlington Housing Corporation. Candidly, I didn’t know what a nonprofit developer was, but the job sounded perfect. The rest is history as they say. I was hired by John Spencer, the founder of HAND, and I fell in love with mission-oriented real estate development. I traveled to meetings with John when HAND was first established. At that time, there was no annual meeting. We met up with 5 or 6 nonprofits every few months, ate our brown bag lunches, and had informal discussions about the industry and our challenges. HAND grew from there. Eventually, when HAND achieved sufficient mass that an Executive Director was hired, I joined the Board and ultimately became the first President that was not John Spencer. It was a tremendous experience. When John left AHC, I became the Director of Multifamily and coordinated all facets of real estate development, and oversaw asset management.
After eight years at AHC, I joined the National Housing Trust as Vice President. NHT was comprised of three of us at the time, and when I left after more than 23 years, there were 30 employees. Initially, I worked on policy, development consulting, and assisted with running the organization. In the year 2000, we started a separate affiliated 501(c)(3) corporation to develop and preserve affordable housing – NHT Communities formally known as NHT Enterprise Preservation Corporation. Added to my responsibilities was establishing and running NHT Communities. The work was similar to what I had done at AHC. I gained the experience of developing affordable housing all over the country working with a variety of state and local governments. I’m proud of the accomplishments while I was there which included the preservation of more than 8,500 affordable units and incorporated $1 billion of financing.
Also at NHT, I established a separate affiliate energy company that focused on providing sustainable retrofits to existing affordable housing. Most notably, we developed solar arrays which in total created 11,500 KW of electricity with financial benefits accruing to households of low- and moderate-income families and seniors.
HAND: Tell us about your newest chapter with Stratis. What excites you about your new firm? Do you foresee any challenges?
SK: For the first time in a long time, I’m not responsible for managing the organization, making payroll, and setting office policies that impact the lives of so many. That’s a relief. I’m excited about channeling that energy into more project work. I’m also excited about sharing my knowledge and ideas with others. I’ve always enjoyed teaching. At the same time, I’m still learning. There is nothing “cookie-cutter” about affordable housing development. Every project is different and every developer has their own means, methods, and decision-making processes. I’m finding it fascinating to learn about new ways of approaching projects, different financing schemes, and different ways to run a development organization.
I do foresee challenges. Mostly, I’m used to being the decision-maker. As a consultant, I advise, providing the best counsel that I can. But ultimately, decisions are made by my clients. That takes some getting used to.
One thing I miss is the residents. At AHC and NHT, I had a fair share of interactions with tenants. That was informative and rewarding. I don’t foresee having those kinds of relationships as a consultant.
HAND: What factor separates Stratis from other similar consulting firms?
SK: Me. I have experience with a variety of financial executions. In addition to low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, multiple credit enhancements, and soft financing from state and local entities, I’ve worked on equity structures that do not involve tax credits, and utilized several HUD programs, some of which allow for significant changes in rents. Additionally, I’ve run an affordable housing development organization, so I’m familiar with the types of considerations and issues with which real estate developers are concerned. In running that organization, I was responsible for all facets of the development, operations, and organizational management. So regardless of my consulting assignment, I’m not approaching projects simply from the perspective of finance, and getting to a closing. I’m conscious of other organizational considerations like predevelopment risk, sustainability, asset management, and resident services.
HAND: What is one thing you wish you would have known at the beginning of your career?
SK: The business of creating affordable housing lacks the structure that is incorporated in some other careers. For example, accountants receive ongoing training regarding their trade and to some extent, they do task A, then B, then C depending on the engagement. While the complexity of the work certainly varies, there is some level of structure and predictable progression of the work. Affordable housing development is anything but. I’ve worked on projects that take 3 years from start to finish. I’ve worked on projects that take 12 years from start to finish. Some involve intense local government participation, some involve virtually none. Some involve intense resident participation, some involve none. Some involve zoning issues and related processes which vary from one jurisdiction to another. There isn’t a model or a template. There isn’t a real estate development checklist that applies to every project. I wish I had known at the beginning of my career that I would be teaching myself a process and that it would vary greatly from one project to another. And further, that there is no one right way to do it. If you provide the housing and turn a profit, you did it one of the right ways, and hopefully, you learn what you might have done differently that would have enhanced the outcome and maybe, just maybe, that knowledge will be beneficial on another project.
HAND: What do you think is the largest hurdle when it comes to creating and preserving affordable housing across our region?
SK: Besides money? More money.
HAND: What is your “why”? What keeps you motivated to continue your work in this space?
SK: The people we serve. As noted above, I’ve had a fair amount of interaction over the years with the residents our industry serves — families, elderly, supportive service recipients, homeless. Their incomes have ranged from zero to low income to moderate-income to market rate. I remember so many faces of low and very low-income residents as we celebrated their new homes. The work is hard but at the end of the day, I’ve contributed to improving the quality of life for some individuals, and maybe even given them a platform to move up and create some wealth.
HAND: Do you believe there is a “secret sauce” to addressing housing affordability? If so, what do you think that is?
SK:Absolutely not. As noted above, there’s not cookie cutter approach to this work. Every project is different and there’s not one single model for developing and presering affordable housing.
HAND: If you weren’t working in this space, what might you be doing?
SK: Honestly I have no idea. It’s a question that I’ve pondered. But I really can’t picture myself doing anything else but this.
The HAND network is hard at work to address the growing housing affordability challenge across the Capital Region. Five Minutes With is a series highlighting these members and other stakeholders. This informal conversation delves into their recent projects, the affordable housing industry and more. In the latest edition, we have a conversation with SC&H Group‘s Ron Causey (CEO) and Travis Daniel (Director). Causey & Daniel chat with us about the launch of the firm’s Affordable Housing Real Estate Service, which welcomed several team members from Hertzbach & Co. Check out our dialogue below:
HAND: A number of team members from Hertzbach & Co. have joined SC&H Group, launching an affordable housing real estate service at that firm. Can you share more details about this exciting move?
TD: Yes, we are very excited that our entire affordable housing real estate team joined SC&H Group. SC&H is a well-respected firm, and a great fit for our team and our clients – not only with respect to the diversity in services offered but also the company culture. The leadership of this group includes Andrea Hartman, Jeff Kleeman, Debbie Norris and me. Our group will be based in Sparks, MD.
RC: I’ll certainly echo Travis’ sentiments, and add that we are always looking toward the future, identifying new ways to expand our expertise to meet client needs, and reach new clients. In this case, it meant the opportunity to bring in many new team members that deepen our expertise in real estate and development tax issues and broaden our services to this industry. It was a no-brainer for us.
HAND: What is the affordable housing real estate team bring to the SC&H family? What can clients expect in the coming weeks and months?
TD: Our group encompasses a full-service team of tax, assurance and consulting professionals which focus on affordable housing. We have experience with all aspects of a project’s life cycle from pre-construction to exit strategies. We are very excited about the impact this will provide to bolster SC&H’s existing real estate capabilities. Our goal as a result of this transition was to continue to service our clients in the same manner but also expand our service offerings to our clients. With our move to SC&H Group we feel we will be able to meet this goal. Clients should expect to receive the same high level of service with the same group of professionals that have serviced their accounts for years.
RC: At SC&H, we are keenly focused on how we are serving our clients, colleagues, and communities. After spending time with Travis and the team and understanding their vision and values, we knew we were a perfect match. We are excited to welcome a new group of clients to the SC&H family that will continue to be led by a very talented group of professionals that is intimately in touch with their businesses and needs.
HAND: Can you tell us about your professional journey and how you landed in the affordable housing space?
TD: My professional experience started in the tax group at Hertzbach & Co. In that role I worked with many of the firm’s affordable housing clients. As our affordable housing client base grew it allowed me to spend 100% of my time in this space. I enjoyed the complexity of the industry and helping our developer clients meet this critical need.
HAND: What are you most looking forward to over the coming months?
TD: This transition was a long time in the making. I am looking forward to serving our clients from our new platform at SC&H Group and looking forward to expanding our group with several new team members. From a personal standpoint, I was at Hertzbach & Co. for 20 years and built many long-lasting friendships, and I hope to continue this relationship-building from my new home at SC&H. Thus far, everyone has been very welcoming and helpful. From day one, we knew we made the right choice.
RC: This was one of the most attractive parts of this opportunity for us – the ability to bring in folks that were just as passionate about their professional pursuits as their personal relationships. Throughout the process, and since the team has started, it has been clear they are good people who fit right into SC&H’s culture.
HAND: What is the most important takeaway(s) from your experience thus far that you’re bringing into your new role?
TD: I have learned that you can accomplish amazing things if you venture outside of your comfort zone. As a CPA we like our bubbles, but this transaction has helped me to get outside of that bubble. My goal is to continue with this mentality in my new role.
RC: There is no shortage of unique personalities and background at SC&H—it is part of what makes us special and enables us to challenge one another to do great work. We, too, like to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and it is always a positive when your colleagues are self-aware enough to recognize the importance of this.
HAND: What do you think is the largest hurdle when it comes to creating and preserving affordable housing across our region?
TD: The level of need.
HAND: Do you believe there is a “secret sauce” to addressing housing affordability? If so, what do you think that is?
TD: I am not personally sold on the “secret sauce” concept. From my vantage point I see a lot of people trying to address housing affordability in different ways. It seems every solution is somewhat unique.
HAND: If you weren’t working in this space, what might you be doing?
TD: If I wasn’t a CPA in this space, I would likely still be working in the industry but as a real estate developer.
[custom-facebook-feed]
Payments: Orders placed on the event registration page are not confirmed until payment is received. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address listed in your registration. If you paid by credit card, a receipt will be sent to the email address listed in your registration. If you mail a check, all payments must be received within seven days of completing your registration form. Checks should be remitted to: HAND, PO Box 48386, Washington, DC 20002
Guest List & Dietary Preference: If your registration includes a luncheon table or multiple guests, please submit guest names and menu choices by May 1, 2020. Submit guest names here.
Housing Expo: Plan to exhibit? Download the Housing Expo FAQs here.
Omni Shoreham Hotel Room Block: For attendees looking to secure overnight accommodations on May 25th, HAND has secured a rate starting at $189 for conference attendees. There are a limited amount of rooms available, so visit this link today to reserve your room. May 10th is the last day to secure a room at the discounted rate.
Ad Submission: The artwork for advertisements should be submitted to annualmeeting@handhousing.org. You can download the ad spec sheet here. Deadline for ad submission is April 13, 2020.
Cancellations & Changes: If you wish to cancel or change your registration for the Annual Meeting & Housing Expo, please send a request in writing to annualmeeting@handhousing.org. All cancellation requests made prior to April 27th will receive a 50% refund. For cancellation requests made after April 27th, no refund will be provided.
Door Prizes: Are you interested in donating a door prize to this year’s Annual Meeting? Email annualmeeting@handhousing.org to coordinate with our team.
Mailing Address:
HAND
1330 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Suite 124
Washington, DC 20036
info@handhousing.org
202.384.3764
Staff Directory
MEDIA INQUIRIES?
communications@handhousing.org
INTERESTED IN HAND UPDATES?
Sign up for the distribution list here.