In 2015, the Greensboro Housing Authority (“GHA”) took a significant step in repositioning its assets by converting 893 units in eight public housing developments to project-based Section 8 units under the HUD RAD program. Some of the transactions involved FHA mortgage loans, Fannie Mae mortgage loans, tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits, and some had no outside financing at all.
Jaymar Joseph, GHA’s Vice President of Real Estate Development, explained GHA’s approach in a seminar organized by The Banks Law Firm at the Carolinas Council Conference in August 2015. He discussed the strategies employed by GHA it the structuring of its ownership, development and management entities, the financing and closing of a RAD transaction, and how GHA leveraged its ownership of the property to receive proceeds at the closing of the transaction. The seminar was very well received by the audience.
Significantly, Mr. Joseph also discussed how GHA positioned the entire organization for the changes ahead as it transitioned its development and operations functions from the public housing model to the private market model.