Urban Initiatives works primarily with not-for-profit organizations and public agencies.
The following have been among the firm's clients:
New Horizons Village provides a residential community with supportive services to adults with physical disabilities in Farmington, Connecticut. UI provided technical assistance to NHV to assess the economic feasibility and obtain financing for the rehabilitation of 26 existing units, and made critically needed site improvements. UI also provided technical assistance in the development of a 22 unit congregate care facility.
Urban Initiatives serves as development consultant to the Connecticut Institute for Communities in the planning and development of a 79-unit affordable site for seniors and family in Danbury, CT. UI prepared financial analyses to determine the feasibility of utilizing both 4% and 9% tax credits as well as other state and bank funding. UI prepared the CT Development Engagement Process application as well as the CT Consolidated Application for LIHTC and identified the tax credit investor. UI serves as liaison with State DOH and CHFA officials and coordinates the development team.
UI provided a financial feasibility analysis to determine the feasibility of developing a 160 unit site in Montville, CT utilizing LIHTC. UI evaluated the feasibility of both 4% and 9% tax credits and submitted an application through the CT Development Engagement Process (DEP). UI coordinated the development team and served as liaison with State officials. UI is preparing the LIHTC/CT Consolidated Application and securing the required financial commitments.
UI was the Program Administrator for a 5-year National Demonstration of the Emergency Housing Apartment Program, underwritten by the Ford Foundation, and instituted in 1987. The program identified a financing alternative to the housing of homeless families in hotels and by redirecting the emergency per diem payment to community-based apartment building, which provided a more stable environment for families. These funds allowed for the rehabilitation of the units as permanent affordable housing.
Provided construction project management services through the renovations of this not-for-profit assisted living facility in Greenwich CT. Services included preparing requests for contractor proposals; reviewing proposals, interviewing qualified construction companies and managing final financial reconciliation as required by CDBG and DECD.
Urban Initiatives prepared a feasibility analysis for Navcapman and secured funding for the complete rehabilitation of an 80 unit site in New Haven, Connecticut utilizing Connecticut DOH funding.
UI prepared a feasibility analysis and ultimately secured funding for the development of a multifamily site in Hamden, Connecticut utilizing federal LIHTC, state tax credits as well as State Department of Housing funding. The project provides affordable housing for families as well supportive housing for Veterans.
Urban Initiatives conducted a capacity building seminar for the Corporation for Supportive Housing in Connecticut that included organizational management and strategic planning. This particular session was geared to sponsors of service-supported housing that were seeking to strengthen their organizational capacities.
UI assisted the New Britain Housing Authority in obtaining financing from the State of Connecticut to undertake the combined renovation and new construction of 66 units of housing and in the development a 70 unit senior residence in New Britain, Connecticut.
Urban Initiatives is the development consultant in the planning, finance and rehabilitation of a 13-unit building for rental housing, 5 of which will be for special needs populations. As Project Manager, Urban Initiatives developed a preliminary financial feasibility plan, assisted with the assemblage of a professional development team, and secured financing.
UI provided technical assistance to Norstar in evaluating the potential of acquiring, financing and developing state and federal Public Housing projects in Connecticut that were in need of revisioning through various financing programs, including LIHTC. UI also served as liaison to state housing and finance officials.
Urban Initiatives prepared an economic assessment to determine the feasibility of developing shared affordable assisted living units at two sites in Connecticut. UI ran financial feasibility analyses using 4% and 9% LIHTC.
Also-Cornerstone, Inc. provides supportive housing to individuals with psychiatric disabilities who reside in the New Haven area. Urban Initiatives was retained to prepare the financial feasibility and financial strategy for the complete renovation of two, three-story, brick, duplex structures owned by Also-Cornerstone, Inc. into 28 units of service supported housing.
Urban Initiatives prepared training modules for the East Orange Community Development Office emphasizing the city’s Rental Rehabilitation and Community Development Block Grant programs.
Urban Initiatives assisted in the formation of Bridgeport Neighborhood Fund by: designing program goals, objectives, and guidelines; developing special underwriting criteria; structuring the organization administratively and operationally; and hiring executive staff.
Urban Initiatives designed and prepared a supportive housing application under the 1996 HUD SuperNOFA for the development of permanent supportive housing in East Harlem for families with a member who has AIDS or is HIV positive.
Urban Initiatives designed several model-housing programs for the CT. Dept. of Mental Health that maximized funding from the Departments of Housing, Income Maintenance, and the Housing Finance Agency in Connecticut. We identified unique leveraging opportunities and development techniques that the state could incorporate in housing programs for the mentally disabled.
Urban Initiatives assisted in the development of the Small Business Reserve Fund to provide higher risk loans to small businesses in inner-city neighborhoods. We developed program guidelines and underwriting criteria as well as in the drafting of a Participation Agreement between the CDA and participating lenders.
Crystal Run Village, Inc. (CRV) Urban Initiatives prepared several HUD 811 (Housing for Developmentally Disabled) applications for community based home development. Urban Initiatives also assessed the feasibility of developing a CRV owned site for permanent affordable housing and also for multiple group homes utilizing the low-income housing tax credit program.
Emerge is a not for profit organization that provides housing and supportive services for victims of domestic violence. Urban Initiatives researched and identified a suitable site for transitional housing, assembled the development team, prepared financial feasibility and associated funding applications, and also provided overall project management.
UI served as a consultant to Sydney and London Properties in researching and evaluating the economic and public policy feasibility of establishing affordable rental housing in Israel. The company served as project manager to a team of professionals who prepared financial modeling, legislation, and guidelines for the creation of an affordable housing financing tax incentive modeled after the US Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program.
Urban Initiatives provided training for the staff of a local not for profit service provider on the coordination of housing and human services for homeless families. The complete training package was structured to educate human service providers on the specific components of housing development and finance and integration of those components into the agency’s support services.
UI was the development consultant for Franklin Street Gallery/Emmett & Glander in the planning, finance and development for the conversion of four attached, historic, brick townhouses into an art gallery and café. As project manager, Urban Initiatives coordinated the roles of the development team members prepared a proposal for the project’s financial structure including operating and development budgets and assisted in securing financing.
Urban Initiatives provided financial analyses to determine the feasibility of utilizing tax credits to develop a site for 50 units of elderly housing. Urban Initiatives assisted in identifying appropriate partnerships options and served as liaison with the state finance agency and the not-for-profit sponsor.
Urban Initiatives was retained to determine the financial and operational feasibility of acquiring and rehabilitating an 80-unit facility for service supported housing. We prepared several financing options and assessed the financial and agency operations issues associated with the development.
UI was retained by the HSC of Norwalk, CT to assess the feasibility of developing the Homes at Fair Glen, a combined rental and home ownership new construction project. Urban Initiatives was hired to project manage the Fair Glen Redevelopment project, from the initial site feasibility through final construction, securing all of the financing (including tax credits), as well as acting as liaison with all financial and government representatives as required.
Interfaith Council for Action of Ossining NY retained UI to assess and secure financing in the development of 67-69 State Street, a 6-unit new construction rental housing project funded through the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, Westchester County and private financing. Urban Initiatives served as development consultant, including assessing the feasibility, securing financing and overall project management.
Under the auspices of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Urban Initiatives provided technical assistance to a not for profit development corporation in Morgantown, WV that was seeking to convert two dormitories at the University of West Virginia into affordable housing, with a portion of the project serving special needs populations. In the District of Columbia, LISC engaged Urban Initiatives to conduct feasibility studies for two special needs housing programs.
Urban Initiatives provided planning and development assistance for a 30-unit, scattered site, affordable permanent housing development in the City of Waterbury that was funded through the low-income housing tax credit program and other sources of public and private financing. It currently provides home ownership through a leasehold cooperative arrangement.
Urban Initiatives conducted an Organizational Assessment and Strategic Planning process for the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council), as part of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) Capacity Building Program.
Urban Initiatives designed and developed a plan to produce community based housing for mentally ill patients in New York City. Included was a strategy for the formation of a not for profit corporation (Access Development Corporation) to foster the development of housing for the mentally disabled and to aggregate and enhance public/private funding sources for this use.
NHHR is a not-for-profit organization serving homeless families and families with AIDS. UI provided project specific services pertaining to site selection, finance, development and operations of specific sites; capacity building services that focus on the creation of a capable housing development function, and general technical assistance as needed. We also served as consultant in the acquisition and rehabilitation of a nine-unit building for permanent housing for families with a member with AIDS.
Search For Change provides rehabilitation and vocational services in SFC owned and operated apartments and facilities. UI designed a special housing program for supported group and independent housing for upper-income patients that must otherwise remain in more supervised facilities. We devised a model in which the families of patients are participants and investors in a for-profit subsidiary of SFC and SFC itself provides case management services to residents.
The New York State Division of Housing & Community Renewal (DHCR) engaged Urban Initiatives to design a series of statewide workshops for State Housing Trust Funds program applicants. The series included site acquisition, development, management, and representative case studies. Additionally, Urban Initiatives prepared training materials and designed a workshop for DHCR staff on underwriting and analyzing financial proposals for rental, cooperative, condo and homesteading projects.
As development consultant to this not-for-profit development corporation, Urban Initiatives provides a range of services including: site searches; preliminary and advanced financial feasibility; securing funding; assembling development teams; project management; and representation at meetings with local officials and lenders. Urban Initiatives has worked with NNI on work-force rental & home ownership housing, adaptive re-use and elderly housing.
Urban Initiatives assessed the feasibility of developing a 65-unit site in Yonkers, NY as either a low income tax credit deal or as a tax-exempt bond deal. The financial feasibility focused on the need to structure the rents at an affordable level. Urban Initiatives presented several options, identified the most appropriate strategy and prepared the financial feasibility for the funding application.
Urban Initiatives assisted in the formation of the Stamford Development Fund, a partnership of banking and corporate communities, providing below market debt financing for low and moderate-income housing projects. We designed program goals, objectives, and guidelines; developed special underwriting criteria; structured the organization administratively and operationally; and hired executive staff.
Urban Initiatives assessed the feasibility of forming a special-needs housing development corporation. The assessment included the need and market for special needs housing and also evaluated several specific sites (including a 25 unit SRO) in terms of the financing structure that would support such endeavors. Our recommendations encompassed the organizational structure and the development and operations financing required.
Urban Initiatives prepared a guidebook on housing and support services for homeless people, funded by a grant to NGA from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The guidebook provided a national overview of the state programs designed to achieve and/or maintain permanent affordable housing status for families and individuals who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless. It also included issues that are critical to program formulation and effectiveness. States seeking to create or modify programs utilize the guidebook as a resource.
In a collaborative effort with the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials, Urban Initiatives designed and presented sessions for two national conferences on innovative financing techniques and on developing special needs housing. Additionally, Urban Initiatives served as special technical consultant to NAHRO’s National Task Force on Housing and Welfare Reform that resulted in the “The Housing Component and Welfare Reform” report in cooperation with the Association of Public Welfare Agencies (APWA).
UI was retained by a consortium of public and private housing and human service organizations in Vermont to undertake a housing assessment for persons with special housing needs. Urban Initiatives provided the Working Group of the consortium with strategies concerning integration and coordination of existing funding streams, policy recommendations and programmatic changes, and creation of new funding vehicles such as operating reserve funds, state rental assistance programs, bank loan funds to achieve these goals.
Urban Initiatives provided capacity building services to recipients of HOME funds. Urban Initiatives provided: an organizational assessment evaluated its development history and decision making process; and made recommendations concerning its future growth as a development entity. Urban Initiatives was also retained by the Department of Planning to coordinate and prepare the County’s SuperNOFA application to HUD. The County was awarded funding for a multi-project proposal.
