The staff at Clocktower Tax Credits is excited to be traveling for business and back in their offices under a hybrid model during the current COVID-19 restrictions.  After being fully remote for 16 months, the staff began a one-day-a-week, in-office mode for the remainder of 2021.  Our associates are also traveling, as highlighted by our recent attendance at project ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Chicago, Illinois, and Holyoke, Massachusetts.

“It was amazing and weird to be back shaking hands and handing out business cards,” said President Jeff Jacobson about its recent celebration of the opening of 162 units of beautifully renovated affordable rental homes at Lyman Terrace.  “But our mission, and that of The Community Builders, has not missed a beat.  It just took a few months longer to get there.  And after the ten-year development process finally came to fruition, the short delay and the scramble for building materials seem like small bumps along the long road to success.”

In Chicago, Acquisitions Associate David Curtis accepted Mercy Housing Lakefront’s “Wintrust Partners in Innovation” Award for Clocktower’s participation in the development of the Carlton Apartments.  The event was also a hybrid, with state and local officials attending in person, and the event live-streamed to an audience of proud project consultants, financiers, agency officials, and community residents.  This was David’s fourth trip to the Midwest recently, where Clocktower has established a strong presence in the Low-Income Housing and Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit market.

These public events represent examples of Clocktower’s re-engagement with our friends and clients in the tax credit industry.  Acquisitions Associate Sue Ellyn Idelson is participating in the hybrid annual conference of the Florida Brownfields Association, presenting on a panel discussing Florida Tax Credits in a session on “Recognizing Rehabilitation Resources in Your Real Estate” in a Zoom-only Fall meeting, and participating in person in the follow-up session to be held this Spring in Pensacola.  Sue Ellyn worked this Fall with a program-record 48 separate awardees of Florida Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits (VCTCs) in assisting them in selling their credits.  The takeaway for our clients is that Clocktower has worked, is working, and will continue to work tirelessly to support them in all aspects of their Tax Credit needs.

To schedule a meeting or site visit with a Clocktower associate, or a phone call or Zoom session, please call Jeff Jacobson at (978) 823-0200, or email him at JJacobson@ClocktowerTC.com.

Lyman Terrace Phase II is the culmination of a complete renovation of the oldest public housing property in the center of downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts.  Located a block from City Hall, the Holyoke Canal Walk and many stores, restaurants and parks, this ideal location was one of the features that the community cherished and fought to preserve when the buildings were slated for demolition by the Holyoke Housing Authority (HHA).  The then-Mayor, Alex Morse, intervened and asked HUD to suspend the HHA’s application for demolition. With the help of the Mayor and the formation of a partnership between HHA, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, these organizations worked with the community to create a

vision and funding to preserve the property.  The Community Builders (TCB) was selected as the master developer in 2013 and received over $3 million in low-income housing tax credits as well as additional funding and grants to redevelop the site in two phases. The first phase included the development of 88 affordable rental units and a community building, while the second phase added 72 additional units and two playgrounds that were completed in June 2021.

TCB’s architects led a redesign of the buildings by adding extensions to the flat brick facades that extended each unit with new kitchens, baths and laundry areas. These extensions help increase the square footage of each unit that allowed for a dining room adjacent to the living room, much appreciated by the tenants who were able to move back to their own units or similar ones.

A wonderful picture of handprints labeled ‘Future’ created by hands from the community hangs in the community room that is accessed by the resident children who use the room after school for studying and activities.  Along with a community room, the renovation provides a computer lab and a community garden with moveable tables with a view of City Hall’s spire a short block away.

Congratulations to the entire TCB team and partners who not only preserved Lyman Terrace but elevated the buildings and the surrounding streetscape into a place that the community and residents can be truly proud of.  Clocktower Taz Credits was honored to assist by providing the state tax credit equity required to facilitate the redevelopment.  If you need assistance on your project seeking tax credit equity, please contact Sue Ellyn Idelson at (978) 793-9574 or SIdelson@ClocktowerTC.com.

Mercy Housing Lakefront has won the Polk Brothers Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award in the most recent round of the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards!  The project received recognition for its innovative rehabilitation of the Miriam Apartments project in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago.  The development was completed in 2020, and seeks to assist severely low-income residents of the area, with virtually all having experienced homelessness in their lives.

The Mercy team redesigned the space with input from the existing tenants, retrofitting the building to accommodate 66 studio apartments.  Each unit has its own kitchen, bathroom, and heat/air-conditioning.  The construction effort was recognized for its vital role in preserving housing for at-risk Chicagoans while maintaining its historic footprint, being able to qualify for and utilize historic tax credits in addition to low-income housing resources.

A big congratulations to the entire Mercy team for well-deserved recognition, and Clocktower was proud to assist by providing the state tax credit equity component to help facilitate the rehabilitation.  If you have any questions on how this was accomplished, or have similar projects seeking a tax credit equity source for an ambitious development, please reach out to Clocktower’s Midwest associate, David Curtis at (978) 440-0742 or DCurtis@ClocktowerTC.com.

Clocktower Tax Credits President Jeff Jacobson hosted an informative online discussion on “Tax Credit Basics” at the 30^th Woods Hole Film Festival on August 7, 2021.  Jeff was joined by Audit Supervisor Michael Kasianchuk of Kevin P. Martin & Associates P.C. to discuss the process of both earning and then monetizing the state film tax credit.  The discussion focused on Massachusetts, but also addressed other state tax incentive programs.  The panel fielded questions from the audience to help filmmakers understand how they can maximize these generous government subsidies.

“The session was especially important now that Massachusetts finally made the state film credit permanent,” Jeff explained, “by eliminating the 2022 Sunset provision in the state statute.”  Nearly 200 filmmakers were invited to attend and represented states including Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania.  When asked where the best location to film was, from the tax credit perspective, Mike concluded that Massachusetts had the best combination of credit rate, credit availability, low budget threshold, and helpful State Film Office.

Mike explained the difference between transferable tax credits and rebates or refundable credits.  While rebates might return a filmmaker 100 cents on the dollar, the filmmaker has to complete the film, wait until year-end to file his or her tax return, and then wait for the state to issue the reimbursement.  This process may take months or even a year or more.  By selling the credit, for 90 cents on the dollar, for example, the funds are immediately available to the filmmaker upon completion.  As an alternative, the producer may be able to borrow against the value of the expected tax credit, and thus have funds with which to complete the production.

Mike went on to describe the accounting aspects that producers should consider in anticipating earning a tax credit.  Mike certainly recommends engaging or at least early on consulting with a production accountant and/or auditor experienced with Film tax credits in the chosen state.

The Woods Hole Film Festival is dedicated to presenting the best independent film from emerging filmmakers internationally.  Over the past 30 years, the Woods Hole Film Festival has presented thousands of films to Woods Hole audiences, adapting and growing each year. This year’s film program included 150 films selected from around the world: 22 feature narratives and 30 feature documentaries and 51 short drama, 16 comedies, 23 documentaries, and 8 animations.  Clocktower sponsored Last Night in Rozzie, a Massachusetts-made film with the highest in-person attendance at the festival.

Transferable tax credits can be earned in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and New Mexico, among others.  For more information on how you as a Producer can benefit from state tax credits, please call Jeff Jacobson at (978) 823-0200, or email him at JJacobson@ClocktowerTC.com.

States often use tax credits as one of their tools to promote economic development.  We see many state governments use their tax system to partner with the private sector on certain tax credit programs to promote areas that need the help of both. These incentives target areas that the legislature would like to enhance to diversify their economies, and without the private sector to buy or invest in the credits, many of these programs would languish.  The most common tax credit programs target job creation as part of the program being offered, however, others simply offer the tax credit program to build on a specific area needing help within the state.  Here at Clocktower Tax Credits, we see all types of economic development programs geared to agriculture, affordable housing, historic redevelopment, renewable energy, and even film and media production.

The most common tax credit programs in which we participate are in the Real Estate sector, with a focus on historic rehabilitation and affordable housing.  Clocktower covers all 50 states, however not all states have both of these programs.  In fact, in 2021, there are at least six new state tax credit programs (Michigan, New Jersey, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) that have been announced to support the states’ mission to provide more affordable housing or save historic housing stock.  Here are links to three of the new programs: (Pennsylvania), https://www.housingfinance.com/finance/pennsylvania-awards-41-6-million-in-housing-tax-credits_o , (Virginia) https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-virginia-opportunity-tax-credit-9623372/, (and Michigan), https://www.miplace.org/historic-preservation/programs-and-services/historic-preservation-tax-credits/.  And this year, many of the established programs have increased their annual dollar caps or extended their sunset dates; for example, Nevada has extended its program to provide the ability to transfer their state LIHTC after 2030.

Not every state has every tax credit program, and even if a state seems to have a program comparable to another state’s, each program will have varying eligibility requirements and restrictions.  For a complete overview of state historic tax credit programs, see the National Trust’s website for Historic Preservation: https://forum.savingplaces.org/learn/fundamentals/economics/tax-credits/state-htc.

And for an overview of state credits for affordable housing; https://www.localhousingsolutions.org/act/housing-policy-library/state-tax-credits-for-affordable-housing-overview/state-tax-credits-for-affordable-housing/.

At Clocktower Tax Credits, LLC, we work with every transferable state tax credit program and have the expertise to understand the nuances within each program and to facilitate transfers to institutional buyers.  We work with developers with prospective Historic Rehabilitation or Low-Income Housing tax credit projects seeking Federal and/or State tax credit equity, and other unique state incentives such as the Pennsylvania Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) credits and Florida Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits (VCTCs).  Let our expertise help you with your next tax credit project.

For inquiries, please contact Sue Ellyn Idelson at (978) 793-9574 or SIdelson@ClocktowerTC.com.