Rental Housing: Encouraging New Construction and Promoting Preservation

Alabama Housing Finance Authority:
Paying It Forward: Developer Tips for Success

Our innovative “Developer Tips for Success” series combines videos and written interviews featuring experienced members of Alabama’s rental housing development community. This effort enables AHFA and participating developers to pay it forward by encouraging the next generation of developers, connecting them to seasoned professionals, and giving them guidance from industry veterans to help them navigate the development process.

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation:
The Last Frontier Housing Initiative

New housing is going up in five rural communities at risk of losing essential services from a workforce that can’t find housing. The Last Frontier Housing Initiative model follows the trend in recent years to connect newer partners through shared infrastructure (in this case, AHFC) that enables them to do more than they could in isolation. It’s modern, it’s needed, and it’s working for Alaskans living and working in some of the most isolated places in America.

Connecticut Housing Finance Authority:
CHFA's Build For CT

CHFA’s Build For CT program helps create housing for Connecticut’s middle-income workforce by offering low-interest financing to developers who set aside affordable units. In its first year, the program supported over 1,900 new homes, leveraged $200 million in investment, and has become a model for expanding housing options and strengthening communities across the state.

MassHousing:
The Future is Now: MassHousing's Momentum Fund

Bringing Innovation to Lending and Development (BILD) creates financing solutions for market-oriented, mixed-income rental housing construction to catalyze private capital investment. Through BILD, MassHousing provides a one-stop financial solution by offering a competitive senior debt product coupled with innovative equity financing. Rental developers are eligible to apply if their developments are new production, with at least 50 total units, with 20% affordability to tenants at 80% AMI.

New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency:
UPP for Multifamily Production and Preservation

According to a recent study, federal programs, including LIHTC, support 140,000 existing affordable rental units for New Jerseyans. Within the next five years, approximately 10,750 units, or seven percent of these units, are at risk of losing affordability restrictions. In response to this coming need, NJHMFA created the Urban Preservation Program to provide necessary investment into these older properties and to extend affordability controls for an additional forty-five years.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal:
The Clean Energy Initiative Program

The Clean Energy Initiative (CEI) Program is a program created to streamline access to utility incentive funds that have been traditionally challenging for affordable housing developers to utilize. Through ongoing collaboration, the program has evolved to market needs successfully, with over $70M awarded to over 70 projects, creating an innovative and replicable model for other States.

Oregon Housing and Community Services:
Creating the Oregon Centralized Resource Application Process for Funding Affordable Rental Housing Development

Oregon Centralized Resource Application (ORCA) process transforms Oregon's affordable housing funding system from a competitive model to a rolling, standards-based approach that prioritizes shovel-ready projects. In its first year, ORCA created a pipeline of 22,000 homes across 346 projects and provided critical technical support to historically underserved communities. This innovative process accelerates funding, reduces costs, and advances Oregon's affordable housing production goals.

Virginia Housing:
Fueling Regional Growth Through Housing Solutions: Planning District Commission Grant Program (PDC)

Virginia's Planning District Commission (PDC) Grant Program is a statewide initiative designed to enhance affordable housing through regional collaboration. For the first time, all 21 PDCs, which are local development districts, can lead in housing efforts. They receive grants between $1 million and $3 million, based on population size, allowing them to create tailored housing strategies that meet their region's specific needs.

Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority:
Housing Opportunities Mean Everything (HOME) Loan Program

Over the next 10 years, Wisconsin residents will benefit from four newly created loan programs arising from a package of proposals called the Bipartisan Housing Package, which Governor Tony Evers signed into law in June 2023. The associated $525 million of state funding generated three rental housing programs, including Restore Main Street, Vacancy-to-Vitality, and Infrastructure Access. Together, these projects have created 967 affordable housing units.