Yearly Archives: 2017

The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will be holding multiple rental funding competitions during the next six to seven months. As described on DHCD's website (link is external), it intends to host a mini-competition for highly-ready family production projects in October 2017. In addition, DHCD is almost ready to release a NOFA for Housing Trust Fund (HTF) supportive housing projects, with full applications likely due in November 2017.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a new project today to develop innovative methods to improve our understanding of the distribution of freshwater mussels. EPA will partner with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in this effort

The nation’s healthcare environment is changing and facilities need to keep pace—particularly with the growth in a senior population in need of care. The design, construction and operation of healthcare facilities must respond to these needs and provide the environment necessary for effective delivery of quality, person-centered care.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today filed amendments to strike all four anti-home-rule riders from the House’s fiscal year 2018 District of Columbia Appropriations bill, which is expected to be considered on the floor next month when Congress returns from recess. Norton’s amendments would strike the riders that prohibit D.C. from spending its local funds on marijuana commercialization and on abortions for low-income women, as well as those that repeal D.C.’s medical aid-in-dying law, the Death with Dignity Act, and budget autonomy referendum.

Mayor Bowser and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) announced Victory Housing with Brinshore Development as the developer selected to redevelop the historic Hebrew Home at 1125 Spring Road, NW in Ward 4. The project will produce 187 residential units, with 80 percent of the units created as affordable housing for seniors and families.

Keeping up with technology, maintaining sufficient inventory, competition from nontraditional participants and profitability are among the biggest challenges for real estate firms, according to the National Association of Realtors® 2017 Profile of Real Estate Firms

Kevin Hawkins, President of WAV Group Communications, has been accepted ito the Forbes Real Estate Council, an invitation-only community for executives in the real estate industry.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Dr. David J. Shulkin announced that VA plans to propose changes to regulations for its State Veterans Home Construction Grant Program to make it easier to for States to receive VA funding to construct Veterans homes in rural areas.

The “Rent Relief Act of 2017,” legislation announced today by U.S. Representative Joe Crowley (D-NY), would provide much-needed resources directly to struggling families and individuals to help them afford to keep a roof over their heads. The refundable tax credit would put more money in the pockets of the lowest income families, at a time when their wages have flatlined and housing costs have skyrocketed.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1,004,260 to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) to help protect human health and the environment through a Nonpoint Source Program Clean Water Act Section 319 cooperative agreement. This grant is given to states to implement environmental programs that address nonpoint source pollution in surface and groundwater in order to improve and protect water quality.

Ulster Savings Bank (“Ulster Savings”), the Fair Housing Justice Center, Inc. (“FHJC”) and three individual plaintiffs all submitted a proposed Settlement Agreement and Order requesting that the federal court in White Plains approve the parties’ settlement of a fair housing and lending case initiated by FHJC. If approved, the settlement will afford the parties the opportunity to work together to improve lending opportunities in the Hudson Valley and Long Island areas.

Rainbow Housing Assistance Corporation (Rainbow), a Phoenix-based nonprofit organization that provides service-enriched housing programs for residents of rental housing communities throughout the country, has been selected by Reliant Group Management as the service provider for La Palmilla Apartments, a 267-unit apartment complex located at 3838 West Camelback Road in Phoenix. The property was recently purchased by a new tax credit limited partnership sponsored by Reliant Group Management and will have all units restricted to households making 60 percent of the area median income.

Alexandria, Va., Aug. 16, 2017 ? The deadline to become a certified Community of Quality property through your local AHMA is just weeks away....

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it awarded a total of $1.1 million in two-year grant funding for 2016-2018 to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to protect underground sources of drinking water from leaking underground petroleum storage tanks.

Nationwide housing starts fell 4.8 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million units, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. Single-family production slipped 0.5 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 856,000 after a strong, upwardly revised June reading. Year-to-date, single-family starts are 8.6 percent above their level over the same period last year. Multifamily starts dropped 15.3 percent to 299,000 units.

A construction company was sentenced today to a fine of $1.5 million dollars and three years of probation for violating the federal Clean Air Act, announced the Justice Department. AIREKO Construction Company failed to comply with the asbestos National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants during the illegal removal of asbestos containing materials from the Minillas North Tower in May 2012, according to court documents.

Like most of you, I am stunned, saddened and outraged — by the terrible acts of hatred and intolerance displayed in Charlottesville this weekend, and by the president's shameful response

America’s election infrastructure as it exists today is dangerously insecure and susceptible to hacking, machine malfunctioning, and Election Day disruption. But there are nine common-sense solutions that, if adopted, would address the vulnerabilities in the nation’s election infrastructure and strengthen the security of America’s elections, says a new issue brief published today by the Center for American Progress.

Mortgage applications increased 0.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 11, 2017.