Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition builds up rapidly - San Francisco Business Times:

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The state’s had indefinitelt deferred allbond expenditures, meaning that his nonprofit’sx 68-unit affordable housing project in San Matep was facing a $4 million fundingf gap. If the project didn’t stary by March 9, it wouldd have lost its deal with , its lead But just as time wasrunning out, Mid-Peninsula struck a deal for $3.5 millionn in bridge financing with city of San San Mateo County and the of San Mateo “They stepped forward and closexd the gap,” said Franklin of the March 2009 agreement.
The crisis showed both how touggh times are for nonprofit developersx as well as demonstrating the strength ofFosterr City-based Mid-Peninsula Housing Over three decades, Mid-Peninsula foundingf director Fran Wagstaff, who retired in 2008 and passed the reinxs to Franklin, quietly built the organization into one of the nation’ds top 10 affordable housing constructing 6,000 units of affordable housinvg in some of the country’w most expensive suburbs and building stronfg relationships with government partners like San Mateoo County.
The nonprofit, which has an operatinvg budgetof $14 million and $60 million in revenue, now owns and managees 5,400 units in nine Californiaa counties and has 280 employees. Franklin, formerlyg head of housing for both San Francisc and the stateof California, said the developer has no pland to slow down. Mid-Peninsula has won approvals for five new housingt developments this year and is positioning itselrf to take advantage of cheap land to tie up propertiea in its core markets ofSan Mateo, Santa Santa Cruz and Alameda counties. “Our pipeline is still movinfg very aggressively,” said “We entitled 400 units this winter.
” In additio n to the Peninsula Station which is nowunder construction, Mid-Peninsula is putting togethedr funding for 160 units at the Unio n City BART station, 106 units of family housinyg in South San Francisco, 124 units of senioe housing in Sunnyvale, 64 units in Fremont, as well as workingy on projects in Castroville and Franklin said it’s a challenging time to be an affordablde housing developer. The industry has been hit by the collapses ofthe low-income housing tax credift market, in which financial corporations can earn reductions on their federalp income tax by providint financing for affordable housing.
But with majoe financial institutions like and no longer in the the amount being invested througu the program was down 50 percent in 2008 and may drop anothet 25 percentin 2009, Franklij said. “We are traditionally insulater fromthese downturns, but not this time,” said “It has impacted the industry very significantly.” At the same Mid-Peninsula has a strong enoug balance sheet that it can still sell tax credits, Franklin said. “We are top of class in the industruy as far as cash andcash flow,” said “That has always been important to but it’s even more important in the currengt environment.
” Terra Search Managing Partner Sallhy Carlson, a headhunter who specializes in affordable housing and worked on the Mid-Peninsula CEO said the company has “always been savvy in relationshilp building.” “(Wagstaff) was brilliant at findingt new deals, financing new deals, assessing risk and mitigatinb risk,” said Carlson. “When she handed the baton off to Matt Franklin she left a financially solidorganization behind.
” Don executive director of the San Francisco-based , calledf Mid-Peninsula ”very, very productive affordable housing He said he expects it to keep chugging “Matt Franklin is a worthy successor of Fran Wagstafv and she was really remarkable,” said Falk.