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Q&A
Status update on revising term sheets for housing programs
1:32:38
ยท
3 min
Council Member Sanchez inquires about the progress of updating term sheets for new construction and preservation programs, some of which haven't been updated since 2018. Acting Commissioner Tigani explains the challenges and progress in this area.
- Tigani cites changing funding availability, construction and lending trends as factors affecting updates
- HPD is working to incorporate new policy ideas and sustainability requirements into term sheets
- Roundtable discussions with various stakeholders have been conducted to ensure effectiveness
- Tigani commits to releasing updated term sheets by the end of the fiscal year
- Emphasis on the importance of term sheets for predictability and consistency in the industry
Pierina Sanchez
1:32:38
Got it.
1:32:39
And before turning to council member Brewer, I just want to do a little bit more follow-up on term sheets, So stepping back from neighborhood pillars, last year Commissioner Carreon and ONB committed to updating term sheets for both new construction and preservation programs across the board.
1:32:55
One year later and HPD's website as council member Ressler highlighted earlier shows that term sheets are outdated.
1:33:02
Some go as far back as 2018 that haven't been updated.
1:33:07
So can you talk to us about the status of the updating of the rest of these term sheets?
1:33:13
Why haven't they been updated?
1:33:14
Is it a staffing challenge?
1:33:16
Is it insufficient capital to put into into these programs?
1:33:20
Why haven't you been able to get the administration to prioritize this for HPD?
Ahmed Tigani
1:33:24
I think three things.
1:33:26
One, the funding and cap both the expense and the capital availability has changed a couple times over the last ten months in particular.
1:33:35
So the money that we have to count on, the ability to make sure that we know which area to properly apply it to so that we execute the most number of units we can most efficiently.
1:33:48
There have been a number of changes just in construction and lending alone that we're trying to respond to in our term sheets.
1:33:57
Again, our term sheet HPD is a gap filler.
1:34:00
We're largely working in a pie where they're also leveraging either funding from CDFIs, general banking institutions, and we're trying to make sure that as those changes happen, as they're reacting to trends in the market, our term sheet is not only being comparable but allows us to continue to advance new policy ideas.
1:34:22
We've also updated the requirements.
1:34:25
We've increased and boosted things like sustainability.
1:34:29
And as we can identify outside sources like NYSERDA funds that helps us do those, you know, us pay for that, we're able to figure out whether we need a traditional source or we can count on state sources to do that.
1:34:43
So that mix, those questions, plus we did spend considerable, I'm gonna say Kim spent and her team spent considerable time in roundtable discussions meeting with the people who build these buildings.
1:34:55
Non profits, faith based, know, the for profit affordable housing sector to figure out what we need in order to be successful.
1:35:03
All of that work took more time and we are But we are in a position where we think in the next couple of weeks we'll be able to quickly make these available.
1:35:14
And I will say this, in the interim time, while we've been working with our partners to make sure that we can get these projects financially feasible.
1:35:24
We would never close something even if the term sheets from 2018.
1:35:27
We work with them individually.
1:35:29
We work with OMB to make sure they can go out the door and they can work.
1:35:33
That being said, the term sheets create predictability, consistency, and they send a signal to invite more people to do work with us, which we recognize and that's the reason why getting these out is so important.
Pierina Sanchez
1:35:45
Thank you.
1:35:45
You know what's coming, you know what the next question is.
1:35:48
Can you commit to releasing updated term sheets by the end of this fiscal year?
Ahmed Tigani
1:35:52
You know we've made a commitment to before we release to have, you know, to make sure that we've checked all the boxes.
1:35:58
So I think we are in a good place to say yes to that.
1:36:01
I will say, you know, we know that there may be questions from the council and we'll probably have to field some.
1:36:09
But yes, I think we feel good in a good place at least on a number of the major term sheets to be able to do that this year.
1:36:16
And we can provide updates.
1:36:18
I think, you know, Richard has my cell phone number and he is not afraid to use it.
1:36:22
I'm
Pierina Sanchez
1:36:23
So do I.
Ahmed Tigani
1:36:23
I know.
1:36:24
It's true.
1:36:25
It's also true.
1:36:27
Most people in the council.
1:36:28
We all do.