Financing Affordable Rental Housing: Defining Success

Five Case Studies

By Bessy M. Kong and Derek Hsiang

The challenges facing the development of affordable housing across the United States are growing as rent burdens increase, as existing affordable housing ages, and as neighborhoods gentrify and citizens compete for prime real estate. In Financing Affordable Rental Housing in the United States, authors Bessy Kong and Derek Hsiang present five case studies that showcase the development process, examining different ways that affordable housing gets built. The authors explore how financial incentives are used and how different players are positioned to take advantage of the tools that are available.

The case studies investigate affordable rental housing projects used by three different types of housing providers: public housing authorities; non-profit housing developers; and, private for-profit developers. Each case study analyzes the circumstances that led to the development of the project and the financing that made the project work. The case studies in the report include:

• Alexandria, Virginia Redevelopment and Housing Authority

Chatham Square and the Use of HOPE VI                                                                            

• Miami-Dade, Florida Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD)

And Related Urban Development Group (RUDG)
Collins Park: Private-Public Cooperation                                                                                                               

• Thomas Safran and Associates, Los Angeles, California

Skyline Village: Using Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Tax Exempt Bonds                                                                   

• Gloucester, Massachusetts

Pond View Village: Mixed-Income Development on an Historic Site
Failure and Success in the Same Project                                

• Midtown West, Manhattan, New York

The Effectiveness of 421-a                                               

The report illustrates how projects succeed in producing affordable housing and draws attention to the factors that are important for making that success possible.

The report is available for download below.