The co-location of homeless services with supportive housing leverages opportunities to strengthen programs and can enhance outcomes for both endeavors. Success comes from a combination of enhanced wins ranging from maximized funding sources and shared costs, political support for community programs or for policies that favor housing, enhanced design quality including trauma-informed design principles and ultimately resulting in improved housing placement and retention rates. During this workshop you will hear from different partners in complex development partnerships as they compare notes about their initial goals, compromises made along the way and how their organizations measured success. Come prepared to ask your questions about presented mixed-use joint ventures and join the conversation about how to leverage seemingly unrelated opportunities for shared benefits.

Tracks: Addressing Homelessness, Narrative Solutions & Advocacy Campaigns
Workshop Audience: Advocate, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Government Staff, Project Managers, All Sectors
Skill Level: Intermediate

Developers and Asset Managers – come one, come all! Have you ever wondered how the decisions you make throughout the development process affect asset managers? Have you ever wondered how or why projects were structured in the development process? During this session, you’ll learn about how decisions and assumptions about operating expenses, reserves, service commitments, project design, access to technology, and much, much more impact the long-term operation of affordable housing properties and why those decisions are made. Let’s learn together how to push the boundaries on creating efficient best practices that result in healthy and stable affordable housing communities! Come prepared to challenge the norms and bring questions!

Tracks: Resident Services, Asset & Property Management, Affordable Housing Development
Workshop Audience: Asset Managers, Developers, Property Managers, Project Managers, & Resident Services Staff
Skill Level: Intermediate

The cost of building housing in California has skyrocketed in recent years with materials and labor costs seeing the biggest increases. These heightened costs to build compound the state’s shortage of affordable housing and have led to decreased affordability for households at all income levels. This panel will lift up solutions and hone in on what we can do to define, confront and solve this pervasive and complicated barrier to production.

Tracks: Affordable Housing Development
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Developers, Government Staff, Project Managers
Skill Level: Intermediate

State policies that aim to reduce local regulatory barriers to more affordable and mixed-income housing in California have been stymied over the past several years. Various interested parties insist on conditions that limit the availability of entitlement streamlining to a vanishingly small number of projects. For example, since housing streamlining under Senate Bill 35 took effect in January 2018, not a single mixed-income housing unit has been built. A new coalition of housing developers, advocates, unions, and policymakers began to coalesce in 2022. Panelists will discuss the shared principles and compromises that were required to come together, the opportunities and challenges to the assembly of winning legislative coalitions, and implications for housing production. Panelists will also discuss opportunities to press forward with policy initiatives that will produce both more affordable homes and more “high road” jobs.

Tracks: Federal, State, & Local Policy Solutions
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Government Staff
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

The Bay Area Housing Finance Agency (BAHFA) has the potential to unlock the public financing needed to build the affordable homes that Bay Area residents need, including the thousands of affordable homes already in our region’s pipeline. Enterprise Community Partners collaborated with BAHFA, local jurisdictions and affordable housing developers to quantify the number of homes ready to be built, and the funding needed to move them from predevelopment to construction. These pipeline findings are crucial for future advocacy to obtain financing at the regional level and ensure these dollars reach the developments that need them to bring more affordable homes online as soon as possible. This panel will explore findings from the Bay Area regional pipeline and will highlight their implications for future policy initiatives, their connection to BAHFA’s current and future programs. Drawing from their different positions in the public and nonprofit sectors, the panelists will discuss what the pipeline means for the region, current barriers to financing affordable housing and the opportunities for a more well-resourced, streamlined regional system.

Tracks: Federal, State, & Local Policy Solutions, Affordable Housing Finance
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Developers, & Government Staff
Skill Level: Intermediate

This will be an interactive workshop (including audience polling and a power mapping exercise) where the panelists and audience members will learn from each other’s coalition building experiences to help develop a strategy for forming a collaborative, diverse and equitable coalition to win a statewide ballot measure campaign in 2024. The panel will include diverse perspectives, including the perspective of a regional advocate, local elected official and a member of the Bay Area Housing for All (BAHA) leadership team. The moderator and panelists will discuss their dual strategy of pursuing a Statewide Constitutional Amendment to lower the voter threshold for local affordable housing bond measures to a simple majority, while simultaneously pursuing local affordable housing bond measures in 2024, including a $10-20B measure for the Bay Area through the new Bay Area Housing Finance Authority. Panelists will share why this constitutional amendment is necessary, what they have learned from previous ballot measure campaigns and what they believe are essential components of a successful campaign.

Tracks: Narrative Solutions & Advocacy Campaigns, Federal, State, & Local Policy Solutions
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Government Staff, Project Managers, Property Managers, Resident Services Staff, All Sectors & Foundations
Skill Level: Intermediate

This workshop will feature case studies, tools, and resources for how developers can further support residents and communities by providing high-quality commercial spaces at below-market rates to local nonprofits and BIPOC enterprises that serve the community. We will explore case studies along a spectrum—from early feasibility to operational—to discuss how affordable housing developers can effectively partner with these communities serving nonprofits and businesses. We will discuss lessons learned in the planning, financing, and design processes, opportunities for capacity building and technical assistance for these smaller organizations, and the benefits of co-locating for affordable housing residents, the neighborhood, and the long-term stability of these important community organizations. This workshop will feature multiple perspectives – the project manager (developer), community organization (tenant), and project partners (technical assistance provider) – so that attendees will leave inspired and with ideas for how to develop mixed-use buildings that go beyond providing housing to strengthening communities.

Tracks: Racial & Economic Equity & Inclusion, Affordable Housing Development
Workshop Audience: Asset Managers, Community Organizing Staff, Government Staff, & Project Managers
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

The preservation of unsubsidized affordable housing (“naturally occurring affordable housing”) is critical to maintaining affordability and preventing displacement of low-income residents and communities, yet it can be challenging for developers to build trust with existing residents, secure adequate acquisition rehab financing, and ensure long-term operational sustainability for these typically smaller, scattered site projects. This panel will explore practitioner successes and challenges on preservation deals (from pre-development through stabilization), and discuss groundbreaking new state funding sources (e.g. the Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program) that will help bring preservation to the next level.

Tracks: Affordable Housing Development, Affordable Housing Finance
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Asset Managers, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Project Managers & Property Managers
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

In PG&E territory alone, there are over 240 clean energy programs and about 10 of those are specific to affordable housing communities. Each of those programs have their own requirements and incentives levels; and finding the best option for a low income property owner can be difficult without proper assistance and support.

This panel will highlight lessons learned from several programs such as PG&E’s Energy Savings Assistance- Common Area Measures program, the Low-Income Weatherization Program, the Multifamily Energy Savings Program, and CA Energy Smart Homes. Also joining the panel, affordable housing developer- Eden Housing, will help to give perspective to the benefits, barriers, resources, and possible solutions available to help serve the affordable housing communities these programs are designed for.

Tracks: Affordable Housing Development, Resident Services, Asset & Property Management
Workshop Audience: Accountants, Advocates, Asset managers, Developers, Government Staff, & Project Managers
Skill Level: Beginner

Nonprofit housing developers have navigated major changes to both the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) and California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) regulations over the past two years, including a new CDLAC tiebreaker in mid-2022. Leaders from TCAC and CDLAC will explain the changes and experienced nonprofit developers will discuss in particular how the new regulations are impacting non-profit affordable housing production in Northern California. This panel will focus on impacts of the regulations on key issues including: emerging developer criteria and competition; affirmatively furthering fair housing; affordability targeting; set- aside criteria; state credit allocations; and CDLAC public benefit tie-breaker results and implications.

Tracks: Affordable Housing Finance
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Developers, Government Staff, Lenders, Project Managers
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

2022 proved a turning point in the affordable housing and homelessness policy landscape, with major efforts on pro-housing and pro-labor bills and the introduction of ambitious new homelessness and homeownership proposals. Join us for a discussion with legislative leaders on this year’s policy victories and get an inside look at the legislative opportunities in 2023. We’ll hear the latest on affordable housing and homelessness-related bills and budget priorities sponsored by NPH and partners, and get all your questions answered from state representatives.

Track: Federal, State, & Local Policy Solutions
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Government Staff, & Project Managers
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

As the first implementation tool for the unanimously adopted Plan Bay Area (PBA) 2050, the Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) Policy seeks to shape a more equitable region by promoting more dense housing and commercial development close to transit in order to create less auto-oriented and more sustainable communities. The TOC Policy will directly impact housing, including zoning changes and policy requirements for each of the 3Ps – affordable housing production, preservation, and tenant protections – to ensure that development is equitable and we are building communities that are sustainable and inclusive. Now in its implementation phase, the TOC Policy has the potential to serve as a truly transformative tool for the Bay Area. The panel will explore what transit-oriented communities and the TOC Policy mean for housing in the region, how it helps us achieve our goals set in PBA 2050, and the opportunities and challenges of integrating these new policy requirements into local planning and policy.

Tracks: Federal, State, & Local Policy Solutions, Racial & Economic Equity & Inclusion
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Community Organizing Staff, Developers & Government Staff
Skill Level: Intermediate

The BIPOC Contractors’ Forum will explore the intersectional dimension of small business advocacy and highlight how people and organizations operating in this advocacy space are developing a common cause that pursues inclusivity and equity in construction contracting that is not a zero sum game. This workshop will also share best practices from the private and public sectors that have resulted in increased participation of BIPOC Contractors on
construction projects. The final piece will be a call to action for non-profit housing developers and financing entities to move the collective needle on “Equity in Contracting” and this workshop will provide roadmaps to getting that done.

Tracks: Racial & Economic Equity & Inclusion, Affordable Housing Development
Workshop Audience: All Sectors
Skill Level: Beginner

This workshop features our work building community among our residents in East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation’s (EBALDC) Avalon Senior Residence in the East Bay, an affordable housing community of 67 units in the San Pablo Area Revitalization Collaborative (SPARC). This panel will present the four key elements of Avalon Tenants Advocates: history, shared values, promoting healthy living and how/what we do. Issues and activities to be covered will include: interacting with building management to address maintenance and security issues; engaging our elected officials to address community issues such as transportation safety, growing food and joining local commissions; accessing and encouraging government services and programs that support healthy seniors; organizing resident activities to build community.

Tracks: Resident Services, Narrative Solutions & Advocacy Campaigns
Workshop Audience: Community Organizing Staff, Property Managers, & Resident Services Staff
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

This workshop will feature Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) conveners representing practitioners from across the Bay Area and the State. While some of the convenings have been operating for almost a decade and others are newer, all were formed because developing and operating PSH is hard and the infrastructure to support it needs to be improved. Panelists will share the purpose and key findings from their respective convenings and focus on areas of alignment for improving the PSH ecosystem that could lead to collective statewide advocacy and enhanced sharing of resources. This will be an interactive workshop among panelists and attendees and will use interactive polling tools such as Mentimeter.

Tracks: Addressing Homelessness, Resident Services, Asset & Property Management
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Asset Managers, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Government Staff, Lenders, Project Managers, Property Managers, Resident Services Staff, All sectors
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

A labor shortage, more housing funding, additional housing development complexity, virtual work, a renewed industry commitment to racial equity and diversity, and a pandemic have made recruiting and training new housing development staff more needed and more challenging than ever. Join to hear how our panel of industry leaders are creating and expanding programs to both recruit new, diverse talent as well as train and motivate new hires to take on the complex affordable housing development challenge. We want to create an industry where new voices are heard, respected, and encouraged to bring new perspectives to the work we do. We’ll explore lessons learned, share concrete tools you can enact, and update you on how you can join these efforts. You’ll also have the chance to share your recruitment and training best practices and weigh-in on what we can do as an industry to better support recruitment and training.

Track: Affordable Housing Development, Racial & Economic Equity & Inclusion
Workshop Audience: All Sectors
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

The preservation of existing affordable housing is one of the most effective strategies we have for advancing resident stability, health, and well-being. Portfolio investment is especially important now, as communities recover from the effects of the pandemic and need access to consistent, quality, affordable homes. However, given ever-increasing construction costs and limited funding opportunities, we are finding ourselves in a most challenging environment to deliver the investment that our existing communities deserve. Through case studies, this session will explore creative strategies employed by developers to finance the rehabilitation of their existing portfolio properties. Topics include portfolio cross-subsidizing strategies, navigating new funding sources like California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Portfolio Reinvestment Program (PRP), and the 9% path for resyndications. We will also learn about new financing opportunities in the pipeline that may be available for these types of projects in the near future.

Tracks: Affordable Housing Development, Affordable Housing Finance
Workshop Audience: Developers, Government Staff, Lenders, Project Managers
Skill Level: Intermediate

Government housing policies over decades have created the segregated and inequitable neighborhood structures we see today throughout California. In the last few years, State funding agencies have addressed this problem by prioritizing new developments in “high resource” communities. Nonprofit developers have raised concerns about definitions of “high resource” and boundaries of the resource designations, as well as the fundamental question of balancing the benefits of bringing people to resources versus the benefits of bringing resources to people. At last year’s NPH Conference, we discussed the policies as they were being developed. Now that we have data from the past year’s applications, we will hear from California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) and California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) staff as well as from a regional and a neighborhood based nonprofit about how the funders’ scoring systems are succeeding in finding that balance. Join a lively discussion about how to best allocate scarce State resources.

Tracks: Affordable Housing Finance, Racial & Economic Equity & Inclusion
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Developers, Government Staff, Lenders, Project Managers
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

State and local governments are in the midst of a seismic shift in where they seek to build affordable housing. In the Bay Area, this shift is directing housing resources away from urban downtowns and towards suburban areas that have historically underinvested in affordable housing. The goals of these policies are important: to reduce inequality and increase access to opportunity for affordable housing residents. However, the current rules fail to recognize the resources and opportunities that exist in communities of color, and in doing so, they strip BIPOC community developers of their most important tools for increasing opportunity and resisting gentrification in their neighborhoods. This workshop will explore the roots of this disconnect at a critical moment, when State policymakers are revisiting the rules to make them more equitable. We will show how access to opportunity looks different in BIPOC neighborhoods, and offer BIPOC community developers’ best practices for building opportunity through housing.

Tracks: Racial & Economic Equity & Inclusion, Affordable Housing Finance
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Attorneys, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Government Staff, & Project Managers
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

By sharing models that work to move the needle on homeownership for diverse communities to accrue generational wealth, increase educational attainment, and improve health outcomes, this workshop will discuss how homeownership provides working, lower-income families with the unparalleled ability to experience financial stability through a fixed mortgage versus rising rents. Plus, this workshop includes how local and state funding solutions for affordable homeownership supply is particularly important for communities of color still facing disproportionately low homeownership rates because of decades long discriminatory housing practices. Especially with the State experiencing a severe shortage of affordable and entry-level market rate housing accessible for low and very low-income households who qualify as first-time homeowners. The panelists will dispel myths about the barriers to producing multi-family affordable owner-occupied housing units for low-income individuals in urban areas and emphasize opportunities for non-profit and private developer partnerships.

Tracks: Federal, State, & Local Policy Solutions, Affordable Housing Development, Racial & Economic Equity & Inclusion
Workshop Audience: Advocates, Community Organizing Staff, Developers, Government Staff, Lenders, Project Managers, & All Sectors
Skill Level: All Skill Levels

Community lending and investing are among the most critical and catalytic components in the production of affordable housing and community development. This panel will focus on changes in community lending and investing as the nonprofit affordable housing industry is addressing immediate and pressing challenges related to: racial justice and equity movements, inflation and skyrocketing construction costs, rising interest rates, the ongoing effects of COVID- 19, and the impacts of California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) and California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) regulations on the project selection process. This panel will delve into the ways lenders and investors in Northern California have been responding to current developments including evaluating lending and investing opportunities to increase racial justice and equity and how we may be failing or hurting this effort, the impact of economic trends on debt and equity pricing, investor appetite, and how your pipeline may be impacted.

Tracks: Affordable Housing Finance, Affordable Housing Development
Workshop Audience: Accountants, Advocates, Asset Managers, Attorneys, Developers, Government Staff, Lenders, & Project managers
Skill Level: All Skill Levels