#163 Fall 2010 — Neighborhood Stabilization

Just Google “Affordable+Housing”

Google has entered the affordable housing arena.

Graham Smith, CC BY-NC-SA

Graham Smith, CC BY-NC-SA

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) have gotten hard to come by lately. But perhaps the ubiquitous Google can help: it has entered the affordable housing arena with the recent announcement that the U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation will manage an $86 million LIHTC fund for Google, bringing “fresh capital to the industry at a time when many developers of low-income housing projects have been faced with significant financial gaps,” according to U.S. Bancorp.

The LIHTC fund will provide the lion’s share of the funding for building and operating 480 affordable rental units for low-income families and senior citizens in seven communities throughout the West and Midwest. This is the second time this year that Google has invested in affordable housing. Back in June, it was announced that the company would invest $19 million in LIHTC equity in Fair Oaks Plaza, a development that will serve 123 low-income seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area community of Sunnyvale. With that project, Union Bank is kicking in $21.8 million in debt financing.

Our question is: Will this signal a trend in innovative ways to fund affordable housing? Google exists in a competitive marketplace after all. So how about it, Apple? IBM? Microsoft?

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE

  • Shelterforce Interview: Raphael Bostic, HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research

    December 24, 2010

    Bostic, now in his second turn at HUD, is known for his extensive work analyzing the roles that credit markets, financing, and policy play in furthering economic access for all.

  • Dragged Down by Regs

    December 24, 2010

    For an "emergency" measure, NSP came so loaded with ever-shifting regulations and restrictions it was hard to get any money out the door. It's getting better, but more could be done.

  • HAMP Is Not Enough

    December 24, 2010

    The federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program has a lot of mass appeal. But banks have been slow to act and HAMP was never intended to be the sole solution to the foreclosure crisis. HAMP needs backup.