Focus Areas
Policy Formulation
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Network Building
Information Sharing
We recognize that the affordable housing development space in NJ is extremely insular and dominated by white, well-established firms. Developers of color, especially Black and Hispanic developers, are consistently met with barriers to entry and lack of access to capital in the affordable housing space due to lasting structural racism.
In an effort to publicize and address these inequities, we created the BIPOC Developers’ Collaborative. Here, we have created a space where developers of color can safely share their experiences in affordable housing, build supportive and equitable relationships and partnerships, and work together to address structural barriers in the field.
The Collaborative’s accomplishments include:
- Providing recommendations for improvements to funding programs that would better support the participation of Black and Brown emerging and growing developers, with particular focus on the HMFA Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program scoring criteria for 2023 and 2025.
- Developing a set of policy priorities, driven by the direct input from Black and Brown emerging and growing developers, to better support the
- Connecting with funding partners and elected officials to share first-hand experiences, highlight the need to uplift developers of color as community builders, and explore avenues for increasing accessibility.
- Sharing information and spread awareness about the barriers BIPOC developers face at industry-wide conferences and events.
- Hosting networking events, providing opportunities for developers, finance partners, and policymakers from across NJ’s housing space to connect and build relationships.
We have identified the below as the barriers most commonly encountered by Black and Brown developers in the affordable housing space:
- Predevelopment & feasibility funding availability & accessibility.
- Inequitable partnerships.
- Limited balance sheets and personal liquidity.
- Access to working capital to cover business development and staffing costs.
- Lack of relationships with funders.
- Heightened scrutiny when reviewed by potential funders.
- Suburban inaccessibility.
- Fractured & difficult to navigate funding landscape.
The barriers developers encounter vary based on experience level and project size; nonetheless, every developer of color, regardless of experience, participating in these conversations reported encountering at least one of these barriers. All of these issues either stem from or are exacerbated by persistent and pervasive structural racism. These barriers require targeted solutions guided by the input and experiences of developers of color entering and advancing in the field. The Collaborative provides the space and framework to discuss & synthesize these solutions.