Acquisitions Department Holds Development Briefing at OCCH Partner Lunch

OCCH hosted a Development Briefing following its 20th anniversary celebration at the annual Partner Luncheon held May 27, 2009. The briefing, moderated by Jack Kukura, Chief of Acquisitions, discussed current issues in the development market to more than 150 attendees.

Jon Welty, Vice President, presented an overview of the various financing resources that OCCH has available to its partners. Recently, a consortium of COHHIO (Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio), OHFA (Ohio Housing Finance Agency) and OCCH were recently awarded a $5 million grant and program related investment from the McArthur Foundation for financing preservation deals. The Ohio Preservation Compact is currently working on leveraging these funds to create a Preservation Fund so these resources can be dispersed later in the year. Discussion also focused on the Green Program OCCH and Enterprise Community Partners are working on together and OCCH’s current predevelopment loan programs. 

Tracy Peters, Managing Director at Red Capital, discussed the current status of the Bond market. Although the Bond market has been pretty much “Frozen” these days, it has seen some “Thawing” as a few deals have started to get done again. Discussion centered on a new construction 202 project that was combined with 4% credits and recently bought by an investor, bolstering confidence that by later in the year the bond market would accelerate. 

Sean Thomas, Director of Planning, Preservation and Development at OHFA, discussed how OHFA would be using their ARRA resources. OHFA was the first state to be approved and allowed from the US Treasury to accept applications. OHFA determined their strategy to use ARRA funds very quickly, received Board approval, held their public hearing and then submitted to the treasury. The timing requirements that accompany the ARRA funds were stressed in the discussion. To submit for ARRA funds projects will need updated information including but not limited to items like a Market Study Update and Financing letter updates.