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Opportunity Zones: Panacea or Problem?

Tuesday, May 22, 2018
In this Issue: Settling Homeless Families in Vacant Homes ● The State of Shared-Equity Homeownership ● Poem ● Opportunity Zones: Panacea or Problem? ● Also: Jobs ● Shelter Shorts ● Resources ● ICYMI +
Laurel Blatchford, Enterprise Community Partners
The Opportunity Zone tax credit is intended to encourage investors to place their capital gains into Opportunity Funds—a new vehicle that will channel pooled money into equity investments in small businesses and real estate—in return for deferred, or even reduced, tax liabilities. As with similar programs, there is potential for great benefit, but… Read Full Article
Shelterforce Staff
Work Requirements | Source of Income as a Protected Class | Amazon's Bully Behavior | Chipping Away at CRA | The Arts and Displacement | Mick Mulvaney Has Priorities | More… Quick Takes From Our Editors
By avery r. young, interdisciplinary artist and educator
a poem engaging equity
for my godmother & other women
who begin their sentences with the word chileRead Full Poem
Emily Thaden, Grounded Solutions Network
More and more people agree that we need to remove substantial amounts of housing from the speculative market and keep it permanently affordable. Shared-equity homeownership is one of the best tools we have for doing it. Why isn’t it growing faster and how can we help it get there? Read Full Article
James M. Hull, Hunter College
Take Back the Land broke into foreclosed, vacant homes, performed repairs, and housed homeless families in them. The most hopeful lesson to draw from their land occupation and the squatting activities is that… Read Full Article
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Resources

Investing Together: Emerging Approaches in Collaborative Place-Based Impact Investing | Collaborative placed-based impact investing, an emergent phenomenon in philanthropy, is a product of collective impact, place-based philanthropy, and impact investing, but involves complicated trade-offs and considerations. This report, published by the Urban Institute, identifies and classifies collaborative efforts that are taking shape to understand the complexities of this burgeoning field and provides a baseline to reflect upon as philanthropy continues to tweak and develop these practices.
Inclusionary Housing Database Map Released | When policymakers or community members want to improve local housing affordability through an inclusionary housing program, they encounter questions that cannot be easily answered locally and may find themselves having to reinvent the wheel. Grounded Solutions Network, in partnership with Fannie Mae, is launching its new Inclusionary Housing Database Map, which relies on users to keep the map data fresh and accurate. Click here to see the map, read an inclusionary housing glossary, and contribute your own experiences.
You Said It!

Please expand on why Prop 827 would have “risked widespread gentrification and displacement in the process” of expanding the housing supply. The bill was amended to include local inclusionary housing requirements. In San Francisco, most projects now are… —Jon, more

Author Reply
I don’t address SB 827 in this article but I do have an opinion. You cite inclusionary housing requirements as the solution to displacement and gentrification alone, but in reality inclusionary housing programs typically and most effectively… —Zach Murray, more

“Organizations doing this work need access to nimble financing so they can be competitive in the market and snap up buildings just like speculators.” —THIS. Where and how do we make this happen? This has seemingly been our only stumbling block so far. —Jen Mankin

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Jobs
Vice President of Master Site Development Urban Land Conservancy seeks an individual with 10+ years of real estate development and leadership experience to take responsibility for all phases of master development on multiple properties, including conceptual design, planning and infrastructure, community engagement, financing, and take-out strategy that... Read Full Listing
Director of Supportive Housing Management The person in this role is responsible for overseeing Foundation Communities’ permanent supportive housing portfolio and accompanying services, and creating a collaborative environment for our blended team of property management and supportive services staff. Shared accountability for outcomes is... Read Full Listing
Director of Real Estate Development Homestead Community Land Trust seeks an innovative real estate development professional to identify partnerships and opportunities for the development of homeownership properties, to conduct feasibility analyses of prioritized sites, to interpret and explain contracts to internal... Read Full Listing
CDT Acquisitions Associate ● The Community Development Trust (CDT) seeks an individual to assist in managing the evaluation, acquisition, and, in some cases, rehabilitation of existing affordable housing properties throughout the U.S. The primary responsibility will be to quickly analyze and underwrite... Read Full Listing
Real Estate Asset Manager ● The Asset Manager will assist with the management of the Community Development Trust’s growing debt and equity investment portfolios. Duties include monthly review of property operating statements, real estate valuations for debt and equity investments, active communication with... Read Full Listing
Associate—Debt Originations ● The Associate for Debt Originations will support the Community Development Trust's production team in the origination of affordable multifamily housing loans from sourcing to closing by pre-screening application packages to determine program/investor/underwriting compliance, analyzing proposed... Read Full Listing
Executive DirectorHousing Initiatives is a nonprofit that serves homeless mentally ill individuals using the housing-first model. Our new ED will need experience in financial and human resources management and nonprofit fund development, and will oversee a staff of at least ten people, as well as management of over... Read Full Listing
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