Update from the National Housing Crisis Task Force

Greetings from the National Housing Crisis Task Force!

We continue to engage with groups all across the country in support of both our federal policy agenda and the State and Local Housing Action Plan as we gear up for the release of the second set of tools in the Action Plan this May.

The Task Force’s work recently received national attention in a New York Times opinion piece, “Build Homes on Federal Land,” from Binyamin Appelbaum. The piece mentions Task Force Co-Chair, Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, and the Task Force’s federal policy agenda. It specifically references a policy recommendation to authorize emergency no-cost disposition of federal land and buildings for development into affordable housing.

Selling or leasing federal land for new housing is a hotly debated topic. We recognize that guardrails must be put into place for how surplus property is identified and goals set for the type of affordable housing the federal government will incentivize with free or reduced cost land. This recent New York Times piece does a nice job laying out the possibilities – and potential pitfalls – for policymakers to weigh in these considerations.

Taking the Task Force on the Road

On April 2, at the U.S. Housing and Community Development Conference & Expo in Dallas, the Task Force was featured in a closing plenary panel titled “Treating the Housing Crisis Like a Crisis – Local Interventions That Work.” Moderated by AFA Senior Advisor Aaron Thomas, the panel featured Task Force Co-Chair Susan Thomas, President of Fifth Third Bank CDC; Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, who also serves as Co-Chair of the Task Force’s Mayoral Implementation Committee; and Ben Preis, Director of the Task Force. Panelists discussed how recent federal uncertainty has made it even more critical for state and local leaders to get creative to spur housing production, including looking at innovative public-private partnership models.

As an example, Mayor Lucas cited Kansas City’s redevelopment of Parade Park, one of the oldest majority Black-owned housing cooperatives in the country. Parade Park had struggled in recent years because of deferred maintenance and governance challenges, ultimately forcing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to take control of the property and put it under foreclosure. Kansas City purchased the property from HUD and has partnered with a private developer to give Parade Park a $300 million makeover that will create more than 1,000 affordable housing units. The City has also committed to giving former residents a guaranteed right to return after construction.

During the panel, Susan Thomas also noted the need to streamline requirements across local jurisdictions to make it easier to partner with investors and developers. As an example, hundreds of housing trust funds exist nationwide with the shared goal of increasing affordable housing in their communities, but each has its own eligibility requirements and application processes, making it challenging for large private institutions to engage in a broader, more impactful way across communities.

The Bush Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas hosted regional and state housing stakeholders to identify ways to collectively spur housing production.

Later that week, Task Force member Cullum Clark, Director of the Bush Institute-Southern Methodist University Economic Growth Initiative, convened a roundtable discussion at the Bush Center with support from Task Force staff. This convening brought together a diverse group of over 30 stakeholders from all sectors — developers, investors, building and construction professionals, elected officials, faith-based organizations, community foundations, homelessness advocates, and housing preservation leaders.

Task Force Director Ben Preis gave an overview of the Task Force’s key objectives and available tools to kick off a discussion about the key efforts underway to advance housing access in Dallas and across Texas. The discussion highlighted opportunities to de-silo efforts across the Dallas metroplex and inspired conversations around how regional partners might work together to implement tools laid out in the Task Force’s State and Local Action Plan.

Pictured from left to right: Andrea Sáenz, President & CEO of The Chicago Community Trust; Task Force Member Marisa Novara, Vice President of Community Impact at the Chicago Community Trust; Chicago Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda; and Task Force Director Ben Preis.

Finally, on Tuesday, April 15, in Chicago, Task Force Member Marisa Novara, Vice President of Community Impact at the Chicago Community Trust, moderated a discussion with Chicago Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda and Task Force Director Ben Preis. Many local leaders were in attendance, including AFA Advisory Council member and City Clerk Anna Valencia. The discussion focused on some of the promising practices that the Task Force has featured nationally, as well as how Chicago is exploring new approaches like Green Social Housing — a public financing model that aims to create permanently affordable, mixed-income developments without relying on private equity. This model was first successful in Montgomery County, Maryland, gaining attention from both national media and local leaders across the nation, and will be featured in the Task Force’s State and Local Housing Action Plan.

The Task Force is hard at work on the next round of tools for the State and Local Action Plan, which we will release in May following our next in-person Task Force meeting in Cleveland. The Task Force plans to convene a number of workshops with various stakeholders over the coming months, including speaking at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s 2025 Terwilliger Center Summit on Housing Supply Solutions on June 18. As advocates of innovative housing policies, the Center is dedicated to finding new solutions to tackle the housing crisis. Register now to attend in person in Washington, DC, or online. Registration is free!

Stay tuned for more information about resources and events, and please reach out if you’d like to partner with the Task Force on state and local housing solutions.