What Resources Does the Public Owner or Sponsor Have to Offer?

For an attainable housing project to move forward it must make financial sense. Public owners or sponsors have resources they can provide in the early phases of the project that can be the difference between the project being viable or not.

Reduced Project Costs:

In many markets, given land, construction, and other costs, attainable housing projects will not be economically viable without some form of financial support from the public sector owner or sponsor. The most typical way a public owner or sponsor can reduce overall project costs is through land/real estate contribution. If the public owner / sponsor provides the necessary land to the developer to build the attainable housing units, this can help to significantly reduce overall project costs. . Purchasing and developing real estate at market prices can be extremely expensive and time consuming. If a public owner / sponsor has land available, contributing it to the project can be the difference between a project being viable or not. A public owner’s / sponsor’s facilitation of entitlements and permitting is another mechanism to reduce project costs and entice competitive developer participation. If a public owner / sponsor has any local or state grants, tax abatements or funds available for contribution or use by a developer, that too can significantly impact the viability of a project.

Project Funding:

In addition to land contribution, public owners / sponsors can also provide funding in the form of cash, annual appropriations, grants or tax abatements. These funds are often used by the developer to offset land/real estate acquisition and operational costs, which are often significant. These additional contributions can also assist in helping the developer attain project financing and may lower the cost of financing by lowering the amount needing to be financed.