“This article was originally published on March 28, 2025 on the Smith NMTC Associates LLC website.”
Communities across five states will benefit from new homeownership developments supported by New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) that closed on March 27, 2025. Community Housing Capital, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, deployed $40 million in NMTC loans to 5 nonprofit developers – Affordable HomeMATTERS in Indiana, come dream. come build. in Texas, Home HeadQuarters in New York, NeighborWorks Columbus in Georgia, and One Roof Community Housing in Minnesota to develop a total of 148 homes which will be sold affordably to low- to moderate-income homebuyers. American Express NMTC Homeownership 2025 Fund, LLC served as the NMTC investor and Smith NMTC Associates, LLC managed the closing and supports the developers post-closing to maximize the project impacts.
Community Housing Capital (CHC) has more than 23 years of experience deploying capital to finance the creation and preservation of affordable housing in low-income communities across the United States. CHC exclusively provides capital to NeighborWorks America network organizations – a group of high impact community development and housing nonprofits committed to resident-led projects.
Homeownership is Economic Development
In addition to providing quality, affordable homeownership opportunities that support household stability and intergenerational wealth creation, the communities in which these projects are located benefit economically:
- Building and rehabbing homes for sale creates construction jobs and training opportunities, and bolsters businesses that support the construction industry.
- Quality affordable housing is necessary for workforce development – businesses and companies need housing for their employees.
- The construction and sale of homes improves the local economy through job creation, construction fees, property and sales taxes, and consumer spending because homeowners generally have more discretionary income than renters.
- Home equity is the largest asset households can leverage to start businesses, invest in training or higher education, and prepare for financial emergencies.
- Homeownership contributes toward better health and education outcomes, especially for children; and homeownership also promotes civic and social engagement.
Neighborhood Revitalization through Homeownership Development
With a $6.825 million NMTC loan (QLICI), Affordable HomeMATTERS Indiana, LLC (AHM), an Indiana limited liability company wholly owned by Intend Indiana, Inc., will develop 20 single-family detached homes in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of South Bend, Indiana for sale to low- and moderate-income homebuyers. The AHM initiative creates opportunities to foster intergenerational wealth by preserving and developing high-quality, affordable, and sustainable homes. These homes are part of a larger multi-year project to create 90+ new homeownership opportunities to address the negative effects of vacant lots, such as decreased property values and increased crime. The construction and sale of these homes is expected to provide employment and generate opportunities for local businesses that support construction work. The new homes will be approximately 1,400 square feet, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Made-to-Order Homes in the Rio Grande Valley
With a $9.75 million NMTC loan, come dream. come build. (cdcb) will develop 50 single-family detached homes across 3 locations in Cameron County: Brownsville, San Benito and Los Fresnos – towns located in the border region known as the Rio Grande Valley. Homebuyers have the opportunity to select interior and exterior features that make their new houses a home through cdcb’s volumetric modular housing program, DreamBuild. The streamlined process reduces construction time and costs. Following the manufacture of “blocks” at cdcb’s facility, the units are transferred to the home sites for assembly and the addition of other elements like porches.
With average anticipated sale prices of $150,000, these homes meet a critical need in the region for quality, affordable homeownership opportunities. Brownsville is one of the poorest cities in the country, as based on U.S. census data, and much of the housing stock in downtown and west Brownsville is more than 80 years old and in need of major rehabilitation and reconstruction, leaving would-be homeowners with very limited choices.
Infill Development Maximizes Impact in Syracuse
With a $9.75 million NMTC loan, Home HeadQuarters, Inc. (HHQ) plans to develop 28 new homes throughout Syracuse, New York as part of its “Smart Housing” construction project. The focus is on transitional neighborhoods that suffer from decades of disinvestment with high poverty rates and low homeownership rates. The newly constructed homes will be clustered to maximize impact on the surrounding neighborhoods and located in areas in which other development activities are already underway to maximize investment. The QCTs involved have poverty rates as high at 47.30% and unemployment as high as 20.30%, which is 3.76 times the national average. The NMTC-supported loan will allow HHQ to develop its homes with features like detached garages, sheds, solar panels, and sidewalks. Many of these enhancements would be considered customary with the Syracuse weather, but would be cost-prohibitive without NMTCs for affordable homeownership opportunities.
A New Community is Completed in Georgia’s Second City
With a $5.85 million NMTC loan, Columbus Housing Initiative, Inc. d.b.a. NeighborWorks Columbus (NWC) plans to develop 20 single-family detached homes across multiple neighborhoods in Georgia’s second-largest city, Columbus. The final homeownership phase of Elliott’s Walk subdivision will be completed with these funds. Elliott’s Walk was the first new housing designed specifically for homeownership in South Columbus in over 50 years and was created, in part, to provide a solution for the predominantly low-income active-duty soldiers and veterans who struggle to find homes affordable for purchase.
Other homes supported by this NMTC investment are located across the neighborhoods of Beallwood Heights (North Columbus) and Midtown – neighborhoods where the poverty rate is as high as 36.40% and the unemployment rate is as high as 2.31x the national average. The for-sale affordable homes developed in these areas will help increase the availability of quality housing where it has been difficult to keep the older housing stock stable and safe for all residents.
Forever Affordability with Community Land Trust
With a $6.825 million NMTC loan, One Roof Community Housing plans to develop 30 homes across Duluth, Minnesota through new construction and rehabilitation, as part of a larger homeownership project funded by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Once completed, all homes will be sold to low-income households with an average price of 75% of market value. Through a Community Land Trust (CLT) model, the homes will remain affordable in the future if sold, while homeowners are still able to build equity. One Roof offers a range of services in addition to affordable homeownership opportunities – financial counseling, home remodeling lending and down payment assistance, and a Tool Lending Library. One Roof is the only developer in all of northeast Minnesota developing and preserving affordable single-family homes.
NMTCs for Affordable Homeownership
In 2008, Smith NMTC Associates, LLC pioneered the first NMTC model for affordable homeownership, in collaboration with U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation and Habitat for Humanity International, to deploy $25MM in NMTC allocation that benefited five nonprofit developers in the Gulf Opportunity Zone after Hurricane Katrina.
As of April 17, 2025, the company has closed:
- Over $860 million in NMTCs transactions, including $720.8 million for 154 affordable homeownership projects, in collaboration with 24 CDEs and resulting in 6024 homes in low-income communities across 33 states and Washington, D.C.
Smith NMTC works with mission-driven organizations throughout the country to develop creative financial models and structures for projects that bring affordable homeownership and community facilities and services to low-income communities and their residents. Work with us.