ROCKY HILL, – October 30, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing has awarded the Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Policy Award to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority’s (CHFA) Small Multifamily Rental Development Strategy. The award recognizes exemplary state and local programs, policies, and practices that support the production, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable and workforce housing. The Palm Beach County Workforce Housing Program also received the Larson Award.
“CHFA’s Small Multifamily Rental Development Program continues to be very successful, as it brings public and private financial resources and expertise together to create much-needed affordable housing in the most efficient way possible,” said Karl Kilduff, executive director of CHFA.
“By partnering with Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) like The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, The Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund and the Hartford Community Loan Fund, more than 2,200 units of affordable and mixed-income housing have been created, transforming the lives of state residents,” said Diane Smith, assistant director multifamily department.
The program is designed to help meet the needs of small multifamily developments in Connecticut, which make up a substantial share of the affordable housing stock but often struggle from lack of access to technical expertise and financial resources. CHFA conducted an assessment of the market and determined that nearly 10 percent of housing units in Connecticut are in structures with 5 to 19 units. CHFA’s strategy centers on a partnership with the state’s CDFIs which provide the knowledge and capacity to serve smaller properties and their owners with both financing and technical assistance.
“The Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund (GNHCLF) and our borrowers love the Small Multifamily Program and the great partnership CHFA offers. The process is reasonable, the parameters are rational, and the loan terms are great. The program really fills a need to finance the small, but equally important, properties for use as affordable rental housing,” said Anne Conners, lending director of GNHCLF.
According to Ron Terwilliger, chairman emeritus, Trammell Crow Residential, “This year’s ULI Housing Award winners provide powerful examples of the progress our country can and must make at meeting the worst crisis in affordable and workforce housing it has ever experienced.”
The Larson Award program was created in 2011, with the purpose of honoring the legacy of the late Robert C. Larson, former ULI Foundation Chairman and longtime ULI trustee. The program recognizes states and localities that undertake a broad range of policy and administrative initiatives to support housing affordability. This can take the form of regulatory or administrative changes such as higher densities and waivers of fees, or programs that provide grants or financing assistance. Policy programs are judged on a number of factors, including impact on the supply of workforce housing, comprehensiveness of the tools and programs employed, involvement of public-private partnerships, and the ability to leverage private and nonprofit funds, among other criteria.
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About the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing
The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing was established in 2007 with a $5 million endowment to ULI from former ULI Chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman emeritus of Trammell Crow Residential and chairman of the ULI Terwilliger Center. The mission of the Center is to expand housing opportunity by leveraging the private sector and other partners to create and sustain mixed-income, mixed-use urban and suburban neighborhoods that incorporate a full spectrum of housing choices including affordable and workforce housing.
About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 36,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.
The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) was created in 1969 by the Connecticut Legislature as a self-funding quasi-public housing agency charged with expanding affordable housing opportunities for the state’s low- and moderate-income families and individuals. CHFA has helped more than 132,000 Connecticut individuals and families become homeowners through its low-interest, single-family mortgage programs. In addition, CHFA has financed the creation of more than 40,000 affordable, quality rental units throughout the state. To date, the combined mortgage financing for CHFA’s single-and multifamily housing programs exceeds $11 billion.
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