National Equity Fund

Developments

A CORNERSTONE IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING SINCE 1987

For the past 35 years, National Equity Fund has worked with partners across the country in service of our mission to create and deliver innovative, collaborative financial solutions to expand the creation and preservation of affordable housing. As a nonprofit, everything we do is rooted in our vision that all individuals and families across the country have access to stable, safe, and affordable homes that provide a foundation for them to reach their full potential. We are dedicated to our purpose of building homes, communities, and better lives.

JUST ANNOUNCED: NEF'S 3 Winners of the 2023 Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards

Check out NEF's 3 Award Winners and 3 Finalists Recognized in the AHF's 2023 Readers' Choice Awards


Supportive housing

As a long-established leader in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), NEF has worked strategically to integrate services that help improve the mental and physical wellbeing of residents, empowering them to live safe, healthy, and more independent lives. Together, with our trusted sponsor and investor partners, NEF moves the needle forward in combating the ever-evolving homelessness crisis.


Preservation

NEF is committed to preserving existing affordable housing throughout the country. With the ever-increasing demand for affordable housing, we are on a mission to preserve units at risk of becoming market rate in our efforts to maintain long-term affordability for residents.


Veterans


WFH


Senior


Family


Filter Developments

Seasons at Compton - BOACHIF V 2010 - Secondary 2015

Seasons at Compton - BOACHIF V 2010 - Secondary 2015

Compton, CA
Supportive housing

SEASONS at Compton, winner of the National Association of Home Builders award for best senior special-needs property, is an 84-unit new construction development for the elderly with 32 units set aside for developmentally disabled individuals or families. It consists of 11 residential buildings ranging from two to four stories with a 3,495-square-foot community center that includes a social service office. There are 68 one-bedroom residences and 16 two-bedrooms with balconies.

 

Designed by Nardi & Associates of Monrovia, California, the buildings were constructed in two clusters each encircling an elevator and connected by a network of catwalks. The tallest buildings, which are located next to the 710 Freeway, act as a sound barrier minimizing noise for the rest of the community. The development includes a landscaped courtyard with a fountain and is designed to maximize shade and breeze. Structures have stucco exteriors with faux redwood accents and flat roofs with slanting parapets. The development received LEED Silver certification for its sustainable, energy-efficient construction.

 

SEASONS at Compton is sponsored by LINC Housing, a nonprofit based in Long Beach, California, one of the 25 largest developers of affordable housing in the country as of 2011. The $10.3 million of LIHTC equity National Equity Fund, Inc. contributed to the project is its first investment with LINC Housing.

 
Georgiaville Village Green

Georgiaville Village Green

Smithfield, RI
Family

Georgiaville Village Green is one of the first affordable housing developments for families in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Once home to the Narragansett Gray Iron Foundry, Gemini Housing Corporation remediated and replaced a brownfield site with a 42-unit complex. This townhome community mirrors the architecture of historic Georgiaville Village while maintaining a cohesive design that is surrounded by greenery built to street edge. Units are available for single-family residents earning between 30-60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).  

The new homes at Georgiaville Village Green offer 3 one-bedrooms, 22 two-bedrooms, and 18 three-bedrooms. Five homes are reserved for very low-income households earning no more than 30 percent AMI through the Section 811 program, which offers supportive services to those residents with disabilities. The Smithfield area holds a range of shopping centers, medical centers, restaurants, and other amenities. 

This building’s “green” features include storm water runoff management, 46-kW solar photovoltaic systems, and the construction led to efforts to clean the contaminated lagoons and rehabilitate nearby riverbanks.  

Georgiaville Village Green was a 2020 AHF Readers’ Choice Awards Finalist in the Family category. Funding from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program made the remediation and land purchase possible. Sponsored by Gemini Housing Corporation and housing authority affiliate, Coventry Housing Associates, NEF contributed an investment of about $8.1 million in LIHTC equity.  

Freedom Village at West Windsor

Freedom Village at West Windsor

Princeton, NJ
Supportive housing

In 2020, Freedom Village at West Windsor opened in Princeton, New Jersey as a beautiful 72-unit affordable housing community that supports residents with disabilities. This development provides homes for moderate income families and individuals who earn between 50-80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).  

About 45 percent of residents in the community live with developmental and mental health disabilities, and 18 apartments are set aside for individuals in need. Specifically, 10 units are reserved for residents who are currently receiving services for developmental disabilities through their individual providers. Rents for these set-aside units are all paid for by the New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities while rent for eight units reserved for mental health consumers receiving agency services are paid for by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The remaining 54 units are available for individuals and families without disabilities. While showcasing their mission, Project Freedom provides a 100 percent barrier free convenience with accessible wheelchairs and social service providers.  

Freedom Village at Windsor brings together neighborhoods through easy access to transportation, high-quality education and job opportunities in the surrounding areas. The developer worked to meet LEED Silver equivalent efficiency, minimizing water usage while creating healthy and efficient cost-saving buildings and minimal usage of heating and cooling sources.  

With Project Freedom as the developer, NEF invested over $13.2 million in LIHTC equity. 

Milwaukee Soldiers Home

Milwaukee Soldiers Home

Milwaukee, WI
Veterans

Project Summary: Milwaukee Soldiers Home is the preservation of 101-unit apartments on the grounds of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee. Eighty of the development’s homes are in Old Main, which was constructed in 1867 as a place of recuperation for Civil War soldiers as they transitioned back into society as part of one of the last pieces of legislation signed by President Lincoln. Today, six historic buildings on the Milwaukee Soldiers Home grounds, including a National Historic Landmark, have been rehabilitated and returned to their original purpose, the service of veterans. The development also serves families experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

Rents are affordable to households earning between 30-50 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and all receive 30-year Project Based VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) rental subsidy vouchers from the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM).

Milwaukee Soldiers Home is one of the first developments in the nation and the first in Wisconsin financed with a hybrid structure using 4% and 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).

All residents of the Milwaukee Soldiers Home have access to a range of supportive services, provided on-site by the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs Medical Center HUDVASH program. Services include care coordination, job training and employment assistance, help with benefits coordination and peer-to-peer counseling.

The property’s extensive rehabilitation was spearheaded by The Alexander Company. NEF invested nearly $15 million of LIHTC equity into the development. 

Miriam Apartments

Miriam Apartments

Chicago, IL
Preservation

Recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, the preservation of Miriam Apartments has not only preserved the building’s original classic Chicago front façade elements and floors, but also 66 homes for residents in Chicago’s Uptown community. Mercy Housing Lakefront took over from Lakefront SRO, which updated the property in 1990, to improve this four-story historical building that was built in 1925. The rehabilitation work transformed shared bathrooms and communal kitchens into private spaces.  

In the interest of long-term affordability, Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD) secured 20-year project-based assistance contracts for all apartments. Mariam Apartments aims to improve the quality of life of residents coming out of homelessness. All 66 units are restricted to residents earning 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) and benefits from a Section 8 contract. The rehabilitation also features a steam heating system, which provides the residents with air conditioning for the first time as well as access to a computer lab, fitness room, community room, and resident storage. 

Miriam Apartments has gained recognition as the 2020 Residential Development that Best Exemplifies Major Community Impact at the Novogradac Rehabilitation Awards and was a 2020 Affordable Housing Finance Readers’ Choice Awards Winner in the Preservation category. This community was developed by Mercy Housing Lakefront, and NEF invested over $9.4 million in LIHTC equity. 

Hope Manor Village

Hope Manor Village

Chicago, IL
Veterans

Armed with a vision of reducing vacant lots, reactivating abandoned residential structures and taking on some high commercial vacancy, developer VOA Illinois created a grand plan to make a difference in one urban Chicago neighborhood. Hope Manor Village is comprised of 36 new scattered site infill homes built on 16 lots that VOA purchased from the city for $1 each. Residences are affordable to households earning 15-60 percent of Area Median Income and rental assistance with the Chicago Low‐Income Housing Trust Fund MAUI Program provides subsidies for 10 units. Hope Manor Village replaces abandoned and foreclosed homes with high-quality affordable rental opportunities for Englewood residents and individuals and families (veteran preference). This development focuses on revitalizing both the infrastructure and aesthetics of the 10 surrounding blocks of Hope Manor II. Completed in 2021, 16 vacant lots are now home to 36 apartment units in a series of 2- and 3-flat buildings. Nine units are designed to support physically disabled and/or other special needs and will target the Veteran population. Residents have access to services including case management, counseling, peer support groups, financial literacy classes, health and wellness support, employment support and crisis intervention support.

This community was spearheaded by the Volunteers of America Illinois and Volunteers of America National Services. NEF invested just over $10 million of LIHTC equity into the development.

Hope Manor Village was the overall winner in Affordable Housing Finance’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards for the nation’s top developments of 2020 and 2021.

Milwaukee Soldiers Home PHASE II

Milwaukee Soldiers Home PHASE II

Milwaukee, WI
Supportive housing

Milwaukee Soldiers Home is the preservation of 101-unit apartments on the grounds of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee. Eighty of the development’s homes are in Old Main, which was constructed in 1867 as a place of recuperation for Civil War soldiers as they transitioned back into society as part of one of the last pieces of legislation signed by President Lincoln. Today, six historic buildings on the Milwaukee Soldiers Home grounds, including a National Historic Landmark, have been rehabilitated and returned to their original purpose, the service of veterans. The development also serves families experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

Rents are affordable to households earning between 30-50 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and all receive 30-year Project Based VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) rental subsidy vouchers from the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM).

Milwaukee Soldiers Home is one of the first developments in the nation and the first in Wisconsin financed with a hybrid structure using 4% and 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).

All residents of the Milwaukee Soldiers Home have access to a range of supportive services, provided on-site by the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs Medical Center HUDVASH program. Services include care coordination, job training and employment assistance, help with benefits coordination and peer-to-peer counseling.

The property’s extensive rehabilitation was spearheaded by The Alexander Company. NEF invested nearly $15 million of LIHTC equity into the development. 

Milwaukee Soldiers Home won the 2021 Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award in the Housing for Veterans of the Armed Forces category and Affordable Housing Finance (AHF) Reader’s Choice Award in the Historic Rehab category.

Willkommen Zuhause

Willkommen Zuhause

Cincinnati, OH
WFH

Willkommen Zuhause is a combination of historic renovation and scattered­-site new construction of 56 high-impact affordable housing units in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. The development includes 20 disbursed buildings (10 of which are part of Zuhause, the LIHTC portion of the project) in the center of a bustling, historic urban community directly north of the central business district. As much of the community was developed in the late 1800s, a major focus in creating this new development was preserving historic elements and features while implementing new energy-efficient MEP systems, flooring and appliances.

Located in a high-cost historic neighborhood with rapidly rising rental costs, Willkommen Zuhause has created affordable, workforce and market-rate housing, providing units between 50 and 70 percent Area Median Income (AMI). As a scattered site development, Willkommen Zuhause connects previously developed points in the community to promote walkability, commercial activity and safety by bringing previously vacant buildings and lots into productive use. Additionally, the  central location allows for residents to take advantage of important community necessities such as grocery stores, health care facilities, schools and public transportation.

Willkommen Zuhause creates affordable living opportunities for an unserved workforce market in a dense, historic urban community with a high cost of living. The development's apartments are co-located in buildings across the hall and adjacent to market-rate units with market-rate finishes to create a truly mixed-income building.