Public-Private Housing and Grocery Store Development Site Analysis and Search

The role of government should be to meet the basic needs of citizens so they can achieve their full potential. A way this is done is through community development financing programs. These financing programs have evolved in various forms. The focus of this analysis is on communities in Des Moines, Iowa, which can benefit the most from the combination of public community development financing and private real estate development. Three funding programs are explored in this analysis.

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Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)

LIHTC has supplied the most affordable housing units in the country. The program comes with a lot of issues. The program is defined by individual state financing agencies through criteria developed by each state in the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The QAP defines the scoring for submitted projects and who can develop a LIHTC funded project. There are two kinds of LIHTC projects, the 9% and the 4%. The 9% is very competitive and may fund up to 70% of total project costs. The 4% is less competitive and in some states, not competitive. It can fund between 20-30% of project costs.