February funding updates

HEART’s been busy with funding two new housing developments and monitoring federal and state funding opportunities. We’ll post our press release about the two new development loans soon.

We had a tasty “friendraiser” event just before Valentine’s Day. You can see our photos here. Many thanks to Borel Private Bank & Trust Co. for hosting the event at their San Mateo branch! And to board members Julie Baigent, Larry Nibbi and Village at the Crossing residents Paula and Karen.

State funding possibilities

Here’s what the San Francisco Business Times published on their website: San Mateo’s HEART to invest $2M for housing.  The State is also looking to create a permanent revenue stream for affordable home development. Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg has introduced a placeholder bill, SB 500, that establishes the intent to create such a funding source. We’ll be monitoring that and weighing in at the appropriate time. You can see what little text there is for the bill on the State legislative website.

Federal projections

Finally, the proposed federal budget for 2010 includes an 18% increase for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including $1 billion for the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This is extremely good news, in addition to the funding that was included in the economic stimulus package.