Affordable Housing: Overview
The Affordable Housing Group of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney has experience in tax advantaged investing, affordable housing and community development law. Our clients include equity investors, syndicators, lenders, credit enhancers, and for-profit and not-for-profit developers and managers in connection with low-income housing and historic rehabilitation tax credit transactions. The firm employs a team approach to the affordable housing practice, pulling together experience and knowledge from many practice areas such as real estate, tax, partnership, corporate finance, environmental and banking law. This team approach provides clients with the most current information in each of these fields in an efficient, cost-effective manner.
Equity Investments and Syndication
We serve as counsel to equity investors in the acquisition of partnership interests in low-income housing tax credit and historic rehabilitation tax credit projects as well as in the purchase of tax credits in the secondary market. We draft and negotiate partnership agreements and limited liability company operating agreements, document public and private offerings, handle the acquisition of properties on behalf of investment funds, and provide tax, real estate, corporate and environmental review and due diligence associated with such transactions, including the issuance of tax opinions. The firm also represents investors in structuring syndications and joint ventures for the development of housing and commercial projects.
Financial Services Transactions
Our Affordable Housing Group helps structure and document pre-development loans, construction loans, term loans, letters of credit and other real estate-related financings on behalf of banks and other lenders. We have also handled Housing and Urban Development (HUD) insured financings, bond financings, participating mortgages, equity participations, mortgage-backed securitized financings and other forms of sophisticated real estate financing.
Development
Our attorneys work on transactions covering a broad spectrum of low-income rental housing, including multi-family developments, apartment buildings, group homes, townhouses, single family projects, special needs housing and Single Room Occupancy buildings. We have also represented developers of historic rehabilitation tax credit projects for residential and commercial property including office, retail, condominium and apartment projects. As a result, we effectively deal with myriad legal and business issues concerning housing and commercial development.
We provide highly skilled assistance in the low-income housing tax credit process, including the 10 percent test for carryover allocation, and working with state credit agencies and equity and debt providers. We counsel clients in land development, zoning, subdivision, title matters, historic preservation issues, property management and regulatory compliance.
We also have experience with various HUD financing programs available to developers, including HOME, HOPE VI, CDBG, HUD insurance programs and Section 8 rental assistance programs. We have assisted in integrating public and private funding into sound financial structures for housing and community development projects and have provided creative solutions to complex issues affecting such projects.
For example, we worked with a super-regional bank in a joint venture with Sister Mary Scullion's Project H.O.M.E. in the historic rehabilitation of Kate's Place, which created 144 units of affordable housing in Philadelphia.
Tax-Exempt Financing
Buchanan has a municipal finance practice, and our lawyers have served as counsel in hundreds of tax-exempt bond issues.
The firm's roles have included serving as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, letter of credit bank counsel, borrower's counsel and trustee's counsel in diverse housing bond issues, including both private placement and rated bond transactions. Buchanan is listed in The Bond Buyer's Municipal Marketplace (commonly referred to as the "Red Book"), and our bond counsel opinion is recognized nationally.
Selected 2000-2006 Low‑Income Housing/Historic Tax Credit Deals
| EQUITY DEALS | Amount of Low‑Income Housing Tax Credits | 4% / 9% | Project Location |
| Pocono Square Associates | $2,467,893 | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| La Estancia Apartments, L.P. | $6,590,621 | 9% | Texas |
| El Pueblo Dorado Apartments, L.P. | $8,856,004 | 9% | Texas |
| Pleasant Hills Housing, LP | $4,589,381 | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| Amistad Apartments, L.P. | $3,760,326 | 9% | Texas |
| Lindsey Gardens II, Ltd. | $2,317,278 | 9% | Florida |
| Penns Crossing | $3,522,828 | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| Red Hill | $5,180,192 | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| St. George's Housing Partners-1 | $1,143,896 | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| 1929 Sansom Limited Partnership-1,2 | $7,401,141 | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| Lindsey Gardens, Ltd. | $3,832,252 | 9% | Florida |
| The Oaks Housing Partners, Ltd. | $8,499,150 | 9% | Florida |
| Linton Homes Ltd. | $2,882,275 | 9% | Kentucky |
| Genesis Villa Limited Dividend Housing Association Limited Partnership-1 | $7,940,576 | 9% | Michigan |
| New Brunswick Apartments | $5,525,450 | 4% | New Jersey |
| South 20th Urban Renewal Associates | $1,301,950 | 9% | New Jersey |
| Avondale Partners | $2,036,546 | 4%/9% | Pennsylvania |
| Sayre Housing Limited Partnership | $2,285,821 | 9% | Oklahoma |
| Evergreen Townhomes | $3,406,320 | 9% | Texas |
| Chickasha Housing Limited Partnership | $3,007,640 | 9% | Oklahoma |
| Bluff Heights Apartments | $3,142,930 | 9% | Minnesota |
| Chandler Ridge | $3,835,767 | 4% | North Carolina |
| River Bend Townhomes | $1,649,315 | 9% | Minnesota |
| Millenium Urban Renewal | $3,011,889 | 9% | New Jersey |
| 620 Urban Renewal | $3,012,190 | 9% | New Jersey |
| Elliott Park Apartments, Ltd. | $8,007,199 | 9% | Kentucky |
| Stuart Apartments, Ltd. | $1,244,696 | 9% | Kentucky |
| DEBT DEALS | Amount/Type of Debt | 4% / 9% | Project Location |
| 905 Liberty Limited Partnership | $976,500 Construction/Term Loan | n/a | Pennsylvania |
| Lindsey Gardens II, Ltd. | $2,908,595.30 Letter of Credit - A $775,000 Letter of Credit - B | 9% | Florida |
| Belmont Heights Associates Ltd.3 | $5,551,563 Letter of Credit | 9% | Florida |
| MLP Partners, LP | $18,712,877 Letter of Credit | 4% | Washington |
| Somerset Cove Partners, Ltd. | $10,115,069 Letter of Credit | 4% | Georgia |
| Brookside Partners, Ltd. | $8,521,945.21 Letter of Credit | 4% | Florida |
| Creekside Club Partners, Ltd. | $7,788,603 Letter of Credit | 4% | Georgia |
| El Pueblo Dorado Apartments, L.P. | $5,058,000 Construction/Term Loan $3,607,453 Bridge Loan | 9% | Texas |
| La Estancia Apartments, L.P. | $3,566,463 Construction/Term Loan $2,390,718 Bridge Loan | 9% | Texas |
| Bentonville Commons 2000, L.P. | $9,593,699 Letter of Credit | 4% | Arkansas |
| Edgewood Villas Limited Dividend Housing Association Limited Partnership | $8,130,500 Letter of Credit | 4% | Michigan |
| Joseph Partners Limited Dividend Housing Association Limited Partnership | $4,737,317 Letter of Credit $94,000 Letter of Credit | 9% | Michigan |
| Corinth Autumn Oaks, L.P. | $7,300,000 Construction/Term Loan | 9% | Texas |
| Tanager Landing Apartments, Ltd. | $1,835,000 Construction/Term Loan $1,393,235 Bridge Loan | 9% | Kentucky |
| Century Square Limited Partnership | $1,260,000 Construction/Permanent Loan | n/a% | Pennsylvania |
| Seven Oaks Apartments I, Ltd. | $580,000 Construction/Permanent Loan $1,370,150 Bridge Loan | 9% | Kentucky |
| Wilmington Apartments Limited Partnership | $5,964,807 Letter of Credit | 4% | Arkansas |
| The Gables of Maumelle Apartments, Limited Partnership | $5,365,004.06 Letter of Credit | 4% | Arkansas |
| The Palace Apartments, LP | $3,153,150 Letter of Credit $62,400 Letter of Credit $3,120,000 Construction Loan $1,357,792 Bridge Loan | 9% | South Carolina |
| Sand Lake Pointe Apartments, Ltd. | $11,657,665 Letter of Credit $231,300 Letter of Credit $11,565,000 Construction Loan $1,431,000 Bridge Loan | 9% | Florida |
| Allequippa Terrace Limited Partnership III3 | $2,800,000 Construction Loan | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| Allequippa Terrace Limited Partnership IV3 | $1,523,000 Construction Loan | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| Villas of Lancaster Limited Partnership | $4,291,650 Construction/Term Loan | 9% | Texas |
| Dickson Trails Apartments II, L.P. | $1,850,000 Construction Loan | 9% | Missouri |
| Villas of Leon Valley Limited Partnership | $3,782,500 Construction/Term Loan | 9% | Texas |
| Bellevue Heights Senior Living | $6,556,632 Letter of Credit | 4% | Nebraska |
| Elliott Park Apartments, Ltd. | $6,220,000 Bridge Loan | 9% | Kentucky |
| Stuart Apartments, Ltd. | $521,473 Construction/Term Loan $1,452,609 Bridge Loan | 9% | Kentucky |
| Villas of Seagoville Limited Partnership | $3,900,000 Construction/Term Loan | 9% | Texas |
| HDC Forest Hill Limited Partnership | $3,655,000 Construction/Term Loan | 9% | Texas |
| Kentucky Commons, LLC | $12,602,344 Letter of Credit | 4% | Kentucky |
| Mount Pleasant Housing, LP | $1,426,155 Bridge Loan $450,000 Construction/Term Loan | 9% | Pennsylvania |
| HISTORIC TAX CREDIT DEALS | AMOUNT OF CREDITS | 10%/20% | PROJECT LOCATION |
| 150 Miami Associates, Developer - Philadelphia Management Company | $1,721,368 | 20% | Miami, Florida |
| 1929 Sansom Limited Partnership | $2,569,047 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
| Perlow Investments - Gimbels Building, Pittsburgh, PA | $8,645,924 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
| US Realty - Packard Building, Philadelphia, PA | $2,673,034 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
| Avenue of the Arts - Philadelphia | $3,078,528 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
| Century Square Limited Partnership2 | $260,023 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
| 905 Liberty Limited Partnership | $365,000 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
| Cigar Factory Lofts | $262,913 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
| St. Joseph Apartments, Inc. | $3,800,000 | 20% | Pennsylvania |
2 Historic Tax Credits also
3 HOPE VI Program debt also