Smith NMTC Associates, LLC announces the closing of its latest New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transaction to support the development of affordable for-sale homes with nonprofit developers in Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Texas, and Virginia. Smith NMTC’s partner CDE, Community Housing Capital, deployed $30M in NMTC allocation to 5 NeighborWorks America organizations. NeighborWorks America is a congressionally chartered and funded nonpartisan nonprofit that supports 250 strong, healthy and prepared network organizations that provide communities with affordable housing, financial counseling and coaching, training, and resident engagement and collaboration in the areas of health, employment and education. NWA member founded in 2000, Community Housing Capital (CHC) is a certified CDFI and CDE that lends capital for pre-development, development, and permanent financing to the 250 NeighborWorks America organizations (NWOs) throughout the country who develop affordable rental and for-sale housing for low-income persons and in low-income communities. Since 2000, CHC has originated 597 loans totaling $955 million to 145 separate NWOs.

CHC was awarded the NMTCs in September 2021 from its 2020 application prepared with Smith NMTC. This $30M allocation is the first NMTC award for CHC. The following organizations received allocation in this closing:  Avenue Community Development Corporation (Texas) – $5M, Columbus Housing Initiative (Georgia) d/b/a NeighborWorks Columbus – $6M, Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services (Minnesota) – $7M, Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore (Maryland) – $6M, Piedmont Housing Alliance (Virginia) – $6M. More than half of the total homes constructed will be sold to low-income purchasers.

“The magnitude of this allocation has created significant new opportunity for homeownership, offering low-income residents transformative access to equity growth in our nation’s strongest recorded real estate market,” shared Howard Smith, principal of Smith NMTC. “The escalating cost of housing and the narrowing access to the American Dream of homeownership has amplified the wealth gap in nearly every community in the U.S. With New Markets Tax Credits, our partners can bridge the economic gap by building and selling homes that are affordable to low-income buyers. Expanding access to homeownership goes beyond the wealth-building benefit for individual families; it also stabilizes communities with longer term residency and stronger tax bases.”

Avenue Community Development Corporation of Houston, Texas, will use a $5M allocation to build approximately 18 homes in the Northline community where there is a significant lack of housing stock, particularly at price points aligned with the $36,000 median household income. Approximately half of the new homes will be sold to low-income buyers who will receive pre-purchase financial counseling, homebuyer education, and ongoing support.

Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services on the East Side of Saint Paul, Minnesota, will use a $7M allocation for infrastructural preparation of 32 lots and the rehab and construction of 15 homes. Approximately 80 percent of the homes will be sold to low-income purchasers. The homes will be built in neighborhoods primarily occupied by minority residents where the quality of the housing stock has deteriorated significantly.

Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Baltimore will use a $6M allocation to rehab approximately 27 single family rowhomes in West Baltimore, where a high vacancy rate has contributed to community distress. NHS prioritizes working with small, women, and minority-owned developers to amplify the impact of the community investment. At least 55 percent of the homes rehabbed with this allocation will be sold to low-income buyers.

Piedmont Housing Alliance of Charlottesville, Virginia, has operated since 1996 to offer homebuyer education, credit counseling, and fair housing advocacy, and to administer down-payment assistance programs. With a $6M allocation, Piedmont Housing Alliance will build and renovate approximately 17 homes in two separate communities. All of the homes will be sold to low-income buyers, many of whom are BIPOC homeowners.

NeighborWorks Columbus (also known as Columbus Housing Initiative) will leverage a $6M allocation to construct 20 single family homes in the Elliot’s Walk subdivision of South Columbus. These homes will be the first new inventory in 50 years designed and offered for homeownership; at least 60 percent of the homes will be sold to low-income buyers. In addition to the NMTC development, a separate developer has proposed revitalization efforts to add townhomes, rental homes, and upscale housing to Elliot’s Walk.

On the impact of these allocations, Cathy Williams, President and CEO of NeighborWorks Columbus shared, “It isn’t often that we, as a second city, have the opportunity to deploy tools like NMTC. We are, more often than not, overshadowed by the big markets.  On behalf of my community, thank you for allowing us to be a part of this. We will use this tool to transform a long-neglected area of our community and assist families otherwise shut out from homeownership.”