Affordable Housing Summit

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The April 29th, 2008 Affordable Housing Summit was well attended and proved to be an informative event for everyone present. An opening keynote presentation by Diane Randall from the Partnership for Strong Communities illustrated many of the reasons Connecticut continues to struggle to create affordable housing. Her keynote was followed by presentations by three representatives from agencies offering a variety of programs financing affordable housing developments. The participants were:

- Martin Corona, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston

- Kevin Gremse, National Development Council

- Kevin Porter, Housing Development Fund

The panel was moderated by Lesley Higgins-Biddle of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Following a short break, a second panel presented an exciting range of mixed-use, mixed-income and/or green affordable housing developments that are taking place in the South Western Region. The presenters included:

- Dara Kovel, Jonathan Rose Companies

- Kenneth Olsen, POKO Partners

- Larry Kluetsch, Mutual Housing Association of Southwestern Connecticut

The panel was moderated by Timothy Sheehan of the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency.

The Summit provided an understanding of why affordable housing is so difficult to create in Connecticut, and in particular, the South Western Region and led to a discussion of alternative solutions to address the problem. While there is financing available and demand remains sky-high, various regulatory barriers and perception issues persist to prevent the creation of an adequate supply of affordable housing. Despite such a difficult environment, the persistence and creativity displayed by many individuals and agencies alike is paying off and a new model of affordable housing is taking shape. Hopefully, this is a model that you can learn from and incorporate in your community!

Contact Us
General Questions	Benjamin Henson (203) 316-5190 henson@swrpa.org
Registration/Attendance	Patty Payne (203) 316-5190 payne@swrpa.org
	Lisa Pelazza (203) 316-5190 pelazza@swrpa.org

Presentations
Keynote	Financing Process	Developments
Dianne Randall (264kb)	Martin Corona (2.27mb)	Dara Kovel (n/a)
	Kevin Gremse (510kb)	Kenneth Olsen (5.16mb)
	Kevin Porter (1.03mb)	Larry Kluetsch (240kb)
All Presentations (excluding Dara Kovel) (9.03mb)

List of Attendees
Click below to download the list of SWRPA Affordable Housing Summit attendees in spreadsheet or PDF format. The list includes attendees' names, affiliation and email address (in most cases) so that you may add these contacts to your affordable housing network.
Spreadsheet (Excel)	.pdf (Acrobat)

CM Credits
	AICP certified Planners will be able to receive 4.0 CM credits for attending this event. Please make sure to identify on the registration form whether or not you are an AICP certified Planner wishing to receive these credits. After attending the Affordable Housing Summit, you will be able to log your credits here.