We live in uncertain times. In many respects, the strength of an organization can be measured by its response to uncertainty. While we at the Northern New England Housing Investment Fund have not been spared the challenges posed by the current market dynamics, we remain present and committed to our work in the communities of Maine and New Hampshire.

This past year we continued to work with our partners and policy makers to raise and invest equity in much needed affordable rental housing, provide full-service development consulting services, protect our investments in long-term low-income housing, and advocate for a better system for providing housing to our lower-income neighbors. Of particular significance has been our policy work at the state and federal level to shape program changes and funding sources that are allowing valuable developments to be built.

While 2008 was a challenging but rewarding year, we know that we will have to work even harder in 2009 to continue to fulfill our mission. Rest assured that we remain committed to ensuring that lower-income people have a decent place to call home, that our investors have access to sound housing investments in their communities, and that our partners have access to our funds, our expertise and our advocacy.

The following is a summary of our 2008 accomplishments:

Despite the uncertainty in the financial industry and the housing market, our investors remained committed to us in 2008. Since 1996, we have invested more than $306 million in 111 properties and 3,154 units in Maine and New Hampshire, including almost $17 million in 5 properties with 136 units in 2008. We have maintained a strong group of core investors, and we are actively marketing our services to the community banks that are so critical to the financial health of our states.

The Fund has a strong, experienced development team. In our 2007 Strategic Plan, we committed to marketing our development consulting services to our partners. These services address the gap in development capacity in our region while also diversifying our revenue sources. In 2008, we worked on six projects with five sponsors—two of those developments are under construction, while a third will close in 2009.

Excellent, dynamic, and responsive asset management is one of the Fund’s core strengths. As the overall real estate market declined, our asset management team worked even harder to address issues affirmatively to ensure properties addressed operational issues. Additionally, our asset management team worked closely with our development and investment teams to provide input on deals from a long-term operational perspective. The asset management team continues to offer training to our development and management partners while advocating on public policy issues that impact the cost of operating housing.

Public policy is critical to the Fund’s mission. In 2008, we worked with our various partners on the state and federal levels to advocate with our public and elected officials to improve the affordable-housing system. On the federal level, we worked with both the Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations to ensure the stimulus bill (“Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008”) included much needed help for the LIHTC program. On the state level, in New Hampshire we led the successful effort toward creating a law that would provide a fair property tax assessment method for LIHTC properties. In Maine, the Fund, in conjunction with our key partners, released “Housing Affordability in Maine—Taking Stock,” a comprehensive assessment of the state of affordable housing in Maine, conducted by the MIT Center for Real Estate. This study laid the groundwork for a 2009 bond campaign to raise $200 million over 10 years, with significant dollars dedicated to the key housing issues identified in the report. Also in Maine, we worked on tax assessment issues as well as the state’s new historic tax credit. Our policy work not only had concrete results but also enabled us to improve our relationships with our housing partners.

We know that we cannot succeed without the support and engagement of our partners. In these challenging times, you will find us focusing on new ways to allow all of us to accomplish the goal that we all share—to provide stable and sustainable housing for individuals, families, and communities.


John Anton,
President



Cullen Ryan,
Board Chair