Overview
In the area of affordable housing and finance, our lawyers offer representation in these three areas: Development, Finance, and Public Finance.
Our Services and Our Team
Development
Robinson+Cole advises for-profit developers, nonprofit organizations, housing authorities, and redevelopment agencies on acquisition, development, management, and financing of affordable housing projects. Our lawyers proactively work with clients to provide the following services:
To help our clients develop creative strategies to achieve their objectives, we collaborate with lawyers of these Robinson+Cole practice groups:
Finance
Robinson+Cole is a premier firm in representing lenders and other participants in complex affordable housing financing transactions. Our lawyers have closed over $1 billion in financings annually over the past several years ($3 billion in 2016) on behalf of these entities:
Utilizing federal, state, and local subsidy and incentive programs, we apply cutting-edge structures for the following:
Our strong working relationships with governmental housing authorities and housing finance agencies across the country have proven to be instrumental in facilitating these complicated transactions. Group members are also committed to helping clients meet their affordable housing objectives and fulfill their obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act.
Public Finance
Robinson+Cole has provided bond counsel services for securities offerings by states, municipalities, public authorities, and agencies for more than 60 years. As one of the first recognized bond counsel firms in the country, we have been listed in The Bond Buyer's Municipal Marketplace (Red Book) since the early 1940s. Our lawyers rank among the leaders, nationally and regionally, as bond counsel and underwriter's counsel. Using multiple sources of funding, the Public Finance Group has served as bond counsel to housing authorities throughout the country on many financings, including capital funds revenue bonds and credit-enhanced transactions.
Representation of a national bank as construction lender and Freddie Mac seller/servicer concerning the $66 million financing of the rehabilitation of Kuhio Park Terrace Towers in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii's largest public housing project. This redevelopment was financed with tax-exempt bonds issued by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, federal and state low income tax credits, and subsidy financing from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority. Rent support for the project is provided through an Annual Contributions Contract and a Housing Assistance Payment Contract from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Represented a national lender providing a construction loan in the amount of $7,200,000 to finance the development of 66 units of mixed-income rental units on property ground leased from a local housing authority in Massachusetts. This transaction involved several sources of subordinate financing sources, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, state grants, and local financing.
Represented a national lender providing a construction loan in the amount of $31,778,000 to finance the acquisition and rehabilitation of 190 units of multifamily low-income housing in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The loan structure involved a tax-exempt bond financing as well as multiple sources of subordinate financing from the state and local government. Additionally, the project involved negotiating complex zoning and permitting issues related to the property’s preexisting nonconforming zoning status.
Represented a regional lender providing a $9 million construction loan for the development of 40 multifamily low-income units in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on property being ground leased from a local nonprofit organization. Negotiated complex matters related to the amendment of the ground lease and zoning and permitting issues to ensure development could be successfully constructed within local development regulations.
Representation of a national bank as construction lender providing a $17,000,000 loan to a national developer of affordable housing for the rehabilitation of a two building rental project containing 118 units in Lowell, Massachusetts. The project development financing included Federal Low Income Tax Credits through the construction lender’s equity division and the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency provided the permanent bond financing.
