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Preservation funding and HPTF timing emerge as central concerns; advocates call for a predictable takeout pipeline
Summary
Multiple witnesses at the Committee on Housing hearing warned that hundreds of projects and thousands of subsidized units face covenant expirations and foreclosure risk; advocates urged clearer HPTF availability, permanent takeout options, and a revival of first‑right‑to‑purchase financing for co‑ops.
The hearing repeatedly returned to the same urgency: preservation. Witnesses from Mi Casa, the Coalition, and affordable housing providers described an immediate need for predictable, permanent financing to take out short‑term HPF loans and keep deeply affordable properties operating. Vic Goncalves of Mi Casa said two of three CDFIs administering the Housing Preservation Fund reported roughly $100,000,000 in acquisition loan needs over the next three years for small, deeply affordable projects.
Developers and finance professionals told the committee that market conditions — rising construction, insurance and operating expenses, coupled with investor aversion and increased rent delinquency — have increased per‑unit subsidies and squeezed takeout financing. DCHFA and DHCD leaders described a two‑pronged HPTF approach: separate preservation and new‑construction pools and move toward more frequent, predictable HPTF application windows so projects can align financing and closing timelines.
Quote: "We are advising three other limited equity cooperatives that have HPF loans that were approved with a plan that included HPF takeout, which is now uncertain," Vic Goncalves testified, urging the council not to let existing investments lapse.
The committee asked DHCD for a clear schedule of HPTF term sheets, quarterly windows for trust fund applications and a prioritized map of units at risk over the next five years so the council can target preservation resources.
