Virginia Finance Firm Forms Affordable Housing Unit
The Old Dominion State is experiencing demand for more low- and middle-income housing.
Virginia-based real estate investment bank John B. Levy & Co. has opened a unit to arrange financing of affordable housing projects.
Levy last month hired Dale Wittie, who oversaw multifamily financing programs for Virginia Housing, to run a new Affordable Housing Financing group. Virginia Housing was formed in 1972 and has issued bonds to fund a variety of housing programs in the state. Company founder John Levy said the program would start by arranging financings in Virginia and then branch into other states.
Virginia Housing is the credit allocating agency for the State of Virginia. It issues bonds—both taxable and tax-exempt—to finance development of multifamily and other commercial properties. The state gets roughly $1 billion per year from the federal government in Private Activity Bonds that it allocates for a variety of purposes, but historically primarily for housing.
“With recognition of both the overwhelming demand for more affordable housing in Virginia plus the real need for expert guidance to navigate a complex financing landscape, we’re thrilled about this new product offering and even more excited that Dale is the right person to lead the charge,” said Levy.
With housing costs soaring in recent years, increasing attention is being placed on developing and preserving affordable housing financing across the country. According to Yardi Matrix’s affordable housing database, deliveries of new fully affordable housing units have nearly tripled over the past decade to a multi-year high of 64,000 in 2023. Matrix forecasts fully affordable housing construction to total roughly 70,000 per year in 2024 and 2025 before moderating slightly in 2026.
Governments on all levels—federal, state and local—are wrestling with ways to create more units that are affordable to low- and middle-income households. Virginia and other states have programs that use incentives that include tax exemptions such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and direct subsidies. The Biden administration this week pledged $85 million in federal funds intended to spur housing construction.
Levy & Co. structures and places equity and debt for commercial real estate transactions up to $200 million. In addition, the firm for decades has produced market research on real estate debt, including the Giliberto-Levy series that tracks returns of debt products.
