Feature image: The LEED Platinum Crosstown Concourse in Memphis. Image credit: Aerial Innovations of Tennessee.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) helps communities assess affordable community development needs and market conditions. This allows communities to make data-driven, location-based investment decisions. In addition, HUD provides a source of low-cost, long-term financing for economic and community development projects through the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program.

HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program—including Section 108 financing—provides an avenue to undertake larger, more costly and riskier redevelopment projects in historically neglected communities where projects will benefit low- and moderate-income community members. HUD’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program offers CDBG recipients the ability to access low-cost, flexible financing for economic development, housing, public facilities, infrastructure and other development projects involving physical structures. Section 108 has been used to support LEED-certified buildings and communities across the nation and its territories.

Webinar information

Webinar: Financing Low-Carbon and Equitable Community Development with HUD Assistance

When: Tuesday, March 7, 12–1 p.m. ET

Register for the event.

Moderator: Vatsal Bhatt, vice president of LEED for Communities at USGBC

Speakers:

Robin Keegan, deputy assistant secretary for economic development at HUD
Seema Thomas, deputy director of the Financial Management Division for the Office of Community Planning and Development at HUD
Fred Jackson, assistant general manager, Economic and Workforce Development Department, City of Los Angeles

Details:

This one-hour webinar will open with comments from the HUD deputy assistant secretary for economic development, who will provide a brief overview of HUD's community planning and development assistance, as well as of the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program. The secretary will share details directly from a community about the LEED Gold NoHo III Office Building project in Los Angeles regarding how they used HUD’s Section 108 to minimize their carbon footprint, address climate change and promote equity.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of the community representatives about the financing process, as well as about key considerations in planning and implementing projects. Participants can also ask questions of the HUD representatives about their specific projects.

Speaker bios

Robin Keegan, deputy assistant secretary for economic development at HUD, is a policy thought leader and practitioner committed to transforming communities through proven strategies in resilience and economic equity. Keegan has designed successful strategies for responses to natural and human-caused disasters for communities in Louisiana, New York, California, the Virgin Islands and other communities across the country. This includes programming more than $500 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant funds for economic development projects that have helped fishers, farmers and main street businesses rebuild and grow. These CDBG-DR projects also aimed to strengthen major industry sectors. Keegan was lead planner and author of "ProsperityNOLA," the first comprehensive economic development strategy for the City of New Orleans, Louisiana. Keegan has also designed innovative strategies to support small businesses throughout urban and rural communities. Currently, Keegan supports multiple counties across the country in increasing economic security through the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Seema Thomas is the deputy director of the Financial Management Division for the Office of Community Planning and Development at HUD. Over two decades, she has developed and expanded innovative and inclusive initiatives to support communities from the neighborhood to the metropolitan scale, both domestically and internationally.

Fred Jackson, assistant general manager, Economic and Workforce Development Department, City of Los Angeles, has an extensive background in real estate, construction and project management, operations, contract management, affordable housing and regulatory compliance, as well as in overseeing teams of consultants in the management of housing, mixed use, commercial and tenant improvement projects with budgets ranging from $1—$150 million.

More information

Those interested in HUD programs can gather more information prior to the webinar on the CDBG Program and Section 108 financing.

Register for the webinar to learn more

Attend a webinar on HUD financing for LEED projects