| [Jan 31] | New at R&C | Cynthia Langelier Paine and George L. Weidenfeller join R&C as Members, a few months after N. Linda Goldstein, thus further expanding R&C's affordable housing and economic development practice. James T. Massey joins as Of Counsel; and Sarah Molseed is named a Member of R&C. For more information, please click here. |
| [Jan 20] | Housing Notices Newsletter Launched
| R&C kicks off the New Year with the start of a weekly Housing Notices Newsletter. The R&C Housing Notices Newsletter contains weekly notices, proposed rules and relevant information on HUD policy and regulations. If interested in signing up, contact tpatterson@renocavanaugh.com. If you have any questions regarding the notice, please contact Julie McGovern. To view the notice from the week of 1/16/12-1/20/12, please click here. |
| [Dec 5] | R&C issues RAD Client Alert | R&C issues a client alert on Congress’s enactment of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), which seeks to preserve and improve public housing and certain other multifamily housing by authorizing the voluntary conversion of up to 60,000 units to Section 8 assistance that can be used to finance capital improvements. R&C attorneys have been working with senior HUD officials, congressional staff, and a coalition of affordable housing stakeholders to develop, advocate for, and enact this important new tool for PHAs to address their capital needs. To read R&C’s client alert, click here. |
| [Nov 8] | Attorney Listed in 2011 Super Lawers | Hannah K.V. Cassidy has been selected for inclusion on the 2011 Mid-South Super Lawyers list for Real Estate law for the second year in a row. Only five percent of attorneys in the Mid-South legal market are chosen each year. |
| [Nov 2] | R&C's Legal Issues Sessions | Join R&C for our “Reno & Cavanaugh Sessions,” a legal issues meeting, on November 2nd from 12pm to 2:30pm in the Adams Room, at the Madison Hotel, prior to CLPHA’s 30th Anniversary panel. The legal issues to be discussed center around Accessing FHA-Financing, HUD Sustainable Development Initiatives and Non-Public Housing Development. Speaking on these issues will be Anne Schroth (moderator), CBRE Capital Markets’ Monica Newman, Steve Holmquist, Felicia Hulit, Lauren Lyon-Collis, Julie McGovern (moderator), Linda Goldstein, David Kleinfelter, and R&C’s founding member, Lee Reno, will be the facilitator and Laura Schwarz will present. If you have any questions or would like to register, please contact Lauren Pezor at (202) 349-2468 or lpezor@renocavanaugh.com.
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| [Nov 1] | N. Linda Goldstein joins R&C | R&C is pleased to announce that N. Linda Goldstein has joined the firm as a partner in its Washington office, where she will counsel clients undertaking revitalization of older affordable housing properties and those developing larger-scale urban renewal projects. Linda will continue to advise businesses involved with energy-related initiatives and those seeking to acquire HUD and Enterprise-owned single family homes (REO). She also will continue to advise clients on Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) issues and offer guidance to those involved with the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) program. Linda began her career in the 1970s in the Office of the General Counsel (FHA multifamily program division) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and has worked as a housing and economic development attorney representing clients throughout the country for more than 30 years. Linda leaves the commercial real estate firm of Goulston & Storrs, where she opened that firm’s Washington office a decade ago. Please see Linda’s resume for more information. |
| [Oct 25] | Efrem Levy Speaks at the NAHRO 2011 National Conference and Exhibition | R&C’s Efrem Levy moderated and led a discussion and bus tour at one of the headlining presentations at the NAHRO 2011 National Conference and Exhibition. The discussion and tour, “Public Housing Redevelopment in St. Louis: A Local Perspective”, focused on some of the 17 mixed-income, mixed-finance public housing developments built over the past 17 years, including one that served as a model for the HOPE VI Program and two that utilized an innovative New Markets Tax Credit financing structure. |
| [Oct 14] | Efrem Levy Speaks at ABA Forum | Efrem Levy spoke to attendees of the ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Midyear Conference on October 14th in a session entitled, "Combining Credits with Each Other and Other Subsidy Programs." He and other industry figures discussed how to combine tax credit programs with each other and with other government programs and subsidies, addressing the unique challenges these complex transactions present and how they can be overcome. |
| [Oct 11] | Julie S. McGovern Book to be Released Spring 2012 | R&C Member Julie S. McGovern, with Goulston & Storrs's George L. Weidenfeller, are pleased to announce that the book they compiled and edited, Navigating HUD Programs: A Practitioners’ Guide to the Labyrinth, will be available Spring 2012 from the ABA. This insightful tutorial offers advice from industry leaders, such as HUD counsel and staff and affordable housing law attorneys, on topics including multifamily and public housing development, fair housing and equal opportunity, the Section 8 Program and regulatory compliance and enforcement. Copies will also be available at the upcoming Conference of the ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law in May 2012. |
| [Sept 2] | Hannah K.V. Cassidy included in Best Lawyers 2012
| Reno & Cavanaugh's Managing Member, Hannah K.V. Cassidy, was recently selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012 in the field of Real Estate Law (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.). Please see this link to view Hannah's Best Lawyers profile or this link to view Reno & Cavanaugh's Best Law Firms profile. |
| [Aug 29] | Barbara Wachter Needle to Lead Discussion at the 2011 CREW Network Convention
| Barbara Wachter Needle will be speaking at the 2011 CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Network Convention on September 14th at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. The CREW Convention is a premier business networking event held annually, which features high-profile speakers, local industry leaders, and opportunities to meet and network with professionals in the commercial real estate industry from all over the country. In connection with the convention, UCREW, CREW's University Outreach Program, will bring together CREW members and students interested in careers in the commercial real estate industry. Barbara will be leading the event's roundtable discussion and will talk about her 20+ years of experience as a commercial real estate attorney. |
| [July 1] | Hawaii's First Mixed-Finance Development
| Attorneys advised the Hawaii Public Housing Authority on its First-Ever Mixed-Finance Development. Please read more about this exciting accomplishment and the work of attorneys Megan Glasheen, Martin Walsh, Lauren Lyon-Colis and paralegal Michael Bratsafolis at this link. |
| [June 10] | The Future of Public Housing in Guam | Presenting at the Guam Affordable Housing Symposium on June 2nd, Efrem Levy discussed incentives for developing affordable housing in Guam. He also conducted a low-income housing tax credit/mixed-finance seminar on June 3rd, which pertained to implementing various financing resources in a development, or mixed-financing. The Guam Affordable Housing Symposium brought together affordable housing professionals, such as developers, lenders and consultants, as well as the Governor of Guam and the U.S. Congresswoman of Guam to engage in the symposium's discussions regarding the future of housing in Guam. |
| [May 27] | Examining Recent Public Housing Initiatives | Efrem Levy moderated a panel entitled, "Public Housing/Section 8 Hot Topics: A Changing Focus on Public Housing Development" at the ABA 20th Annual Conference on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law. The panel focused on issues related to mixed-finance public housing and section 8 vouchers arising in the context of the administration's key initiatives and examined the following: the Choice Neighborhoods Program; disposition and conversion of public housing, Capital Fund rule revisions, OIG audit considerations, and the project-based voucher program. |
| [May 26] | Lessons Learned in Public Housing | Megan Glasheen spoke on a panel at the ABA 20th Annual Conference on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law entitled, "Gautreaux—Developments and Lessons Learned." Megan discussed Reno & Cavanaugh's perspective from over a decade of representing The Habitat Company, LLC in its role as court-ordered receiver fostering the development of mixed-income, integrated public housing throughout the City of Chicago through the Scattered Sites Program and the Plan for Transformation. She concluded that other cities could learn from (1) the Mayor's commitment to implement the Plan for Transformation, (2) the CHA and Habitat's collaborative approach to implementing the Plan, and (3) developing and following consistent legal documents for the implementation of a redevelopment. |
| [May 25] | Students and Affordable Housing Law
| Laura Schwarz was a panelist at the Legal Educators' Committee Meeting held at the 20th Annual Conference on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law on May 25, 2011. Laura spoke about developing students' interest in affordable housing law. |
| [May 23] | Project-Based Voucher Audits | Sarah Molseed was called upon to speak for the second time on the project-based voucher (PBV) program and recent Office of Inspector General audits at the PSWRC NAHRO 2011 Annual Spring Conference in San Francisco, having spoken at the 2010 National NAHRO Fall Conference last October on the same subject. Some of the items she discussed included basic program requirements and complying with HUD regulations with sparse guidance when utilizing PBVs. Sarah also spoke about recent trends in OIG audits of project-based voucher programs and common findings.
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| [April 22] | Attorney-Client Privilege
| On April 22, Lee Reno was on a panel at HDLI and discussed the attorney-client privilege in the context of legal invoices and what the OIG was demanding to review in audits of public housing agencies' employment of outside legal counsel. |
| [April 14] | Public Housing Capital Fund Program
| On April 8th, attorneys Julie S. McGovern, Stephen I. Holmquist and Martin Walsh submitted comments to HUD regarding the Public Housing Capital Fund Program proposed rule [Docket No. FR-5236-P-01] that was released February 7th. To view their comments, click here. The site, Regulations.gov, will post all comments to the bill. |
| [April 11] | Public Housing Conversion
| On March 29th, Steve Holmquist spoke on a panel to the Low Income Housing Coalition about public housing conversions. |
| [April 6] | Public Housing Redevelopment
| Laura Schwarz presented on a panel at the Upstate New York Housing Preservation Symposium (New York State Association for Affordable Housing) on Public Housing Redevelopment: How to Make a Public-Private Partnership Work on April 5, 2011. |
| [April 5] | HUD Attorney-Client Privilege
| R&C issues a client alert regarding the letter from Acting Inspector General Michael P. Stephens and the new HUD attorney-client privilege guidance on what must be released by PHAs in law firms' legal bills. The Housing Policy and Audit Group at R&C compiled this alert, which was written by attorneys Lee Reno, Sarah Molseed, Julie S. McGovern and Stephen I. Holmquist.
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| [March 30] | PHA Mixed-Finance and Non-Mixed Finance Redevelopment
| For this two-day seminar, Efrem Levy, Martin Walsh and Sarah Molseed conducted training sessions on PHA mixed-finance and non-mixed-finance redevelopment at the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) seminar on March 25, 2011. The attorneys dissected mixed and non-mixed finance redevelopment, highlighting the Low-income Housing Tax Credit program, other development financing sources, operating subsidies, deal structuring and negotiating tips, various development models and ownership structures, PHA affiliate/instrumentality issues and strategies for integrating development and operational phases of a mixed-finance development. For more information on NAHRO's seminars and other programs, click here. |
| [March 28] | PHA Development Landscape
| Efrem Levy, Martin Walsh and Sarah Molseed lead a financing and communications panel at the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) discussing the PHA Development Landscape on March 17, 2011. The attorneys illustrated three public housing development models, followed by a question-and-answer forum with the PHAs in attendance about their experiences and how they would approach development in the future. Key players in the public housing industry also weighed in on the topic of PHAs taking on the role of developer in projects. For more information about the panel and for more public housing resources, please see the article at CLPHA's website: http://www.clpha.org/articledetail/?aid=208. |
| [March 18] | Careers in Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Panel Discussion | Lauren Lyon-Collis spoke on a panel with other practitioners of affordable housing and community development law entitled, "Careers in Affordable Housing and Community Development Law" on March 18, 2011. The American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing & Community Development Law and the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law presented the discussion, which was held at the university's law school campus. |
| [Feb 28] | NSP2 and Other Gap Financing
| Hannah Cassidy participated in a panel discussion on Gap Financing at the 2011 National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA) Annual Meeting in Bonita Springs, FL on February 26, 2011. The panel discussed opportunities for private developers to approach NSP2 grantees about potential projects and use NSP2 funds in projects over the next two years, as well as opportunities to access funds through other new federal housing programs, CDFIs, and foundations. |
| [Feb 4] | Public Private Partnerships
| On January 31st, Brett Siglin spoke on a panel regarding "Public Private Partnerships" at the National Leased Housing Association 2011 Mid-Year Meeting. Brett led an interactive workshop that discussed how public housing authorities can effectively partner with lenders, investors and private developers to successfully develop top quality housing.
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