New York City Affordable Housing Fund Receives Innovations  Award 

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School has named the New York City Acquisition Fund as a 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards winner. This $230 million partnership finances the purchase of land and buildings for affordable housing by using private finance tools to allow small developers to compete in the real estate market. The program will receive $100,000 towards dissemination and replication efforts around the country. Established in 2006, the fund creates a private-sector lending market to address this critical public sector challenge, leveling the playing field for developers seeking to acquire property prior to assembly of a project’s permanent financing.The fund provides affordable housing developers with faster access to equity and predevelopment capital than under more traditional loan processes by providing low-interest capital at higher advance rates and lower recourse levels than are available from conventional financial institutions. In addition, the fund can respond faster than typical government funding cycles. The fund plans to build and preserve 30,000 affordable housing units over 10 years with 75 percent of units reserved for low-income residents. The fund is a collaboration among seven national philanthropies, the city’s leading financial institutions and the city of New York. It is a key element of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s $7.5 billion 10-year New Housing Marketplace Plan to provide affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers. Enterprise is the managing general partner of the fund and originator of the loan.“Addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis demands creative solutions, and the Acquisition Fund is a prime example of the remarkable results that can be achieved when the private, public and non-profit sectors come together,” says Abby Jo Sigal, vice president and director of Enterprise, New York. “Growing out of a need in the marketplace and our commitment to achieving our Billion Dollar Promise to create and preserve 15,000 units of affordable homes for low-income New Yorkers, the Acquisition Fund helps us not only expand affordable housing opportunities in New York, but also establishes a replicable model for other cities across the country.”