Tax Credit / Community Development Finance

An established national practice representing investors, syndicators, lenders, community development entities and developers in transactions generating federal and state tax credits and other tax incentives.

Attorneys in our Tax Credit / Community Development Finance Group have established themselves as industry leaders in the areas of new markets tax credits (NMTCs), low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs), and historic tax credits (HTCs) and have significant experience in transactions involving opportunity zones, renewable energy tax credits, and other state and federal tax incentive programs. These transactions have utilized a variety of structures, including guaranteed structures, state tax credit funds, and investments with multiple credits and incentives. We provide advice to clients utilizing these incentives in a diverse range of projects, including multifamily affordable housing, mixed-use real estate developments, scattered site projects, condominium regimes, hotels, commercial real estate projects, operating businesses, renewable energy facilities, ground lease structures, projects with numerous funding sources and other complexities.

We advise on all aspects of transactions involving the use of federal and state tax credits and other tax incentives, relying on our extensive experience in these fields to guide investors, syndicators, developers, lenders, community development entities and other stakeholders through the closing process from the initial development of a financing structure to final closing, with a particular emphasis on the tax incentives involved. We review real estate, organizational, and regulatory diligence, advise on certain regulatory compliance matters, assist in unwinding transactions and facilitating workouts of troubled projects, and issue tax opinions regarding anticipated tax benefits.

In addition to NMTCs, LIHTCs, and HTCs, energy credits, and opportunity zones, our group is active in a range of other community development financing programs including tax-exempt bonds (and the various lending structures in different jurisdictions), state and local grants and loans, HUD-supported loans, and financing through government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Our attorneys are well-versed in affordable housing programs such as HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program (FHLB), Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) Program, Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Program, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 202/811, Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) Program under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program and other tools utilized in community redevelopment and affordable housing development.

Through their extensive involvement in community redevelopment and revitalization projects nationwide, our Tax Credit attorneys also frequently provide advice in commercial real estate financing and lending transactions, community development banking matters, loan workouts and financial restructurings, and other creditors’ rights contexts.

Our Tax Credit / Community Development Finance attorneys are actively involved in all major industry groups and appear as frequent speakers at industry conferences and events. We serve on the Board of Directors of the Historic Tax Credit Coalition, and are members of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, New Markets Tax Credit and Renewable Energy Working Groups, the ABA Forum on Housing and Community Development, the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition and various state housing groups.