This episode of Recovery Act in Action takes place in San Francisco, where the Recovery Act is bringing private capital off the sidelines and putting construction workers back to work on a major renovation project, all while helping seniors stay in their homes.
The scene is San Francisco's Tenderloin District, where construction crews are at work rehabbing two buildings, thanks to an infusion from the Recovery Act that brought private capital in from the sidelines. The $21 million project was delayed for years by frozen credit markets, but construction started this week and newly hired crews are already at work renovating both buildings.
The project is the work of Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, which bought the buildings in 2007 and has been trying to renovate them ever since. I spoke to Don Falk, the director of the TNDC, who told me--quite proudly, I thought--that hammers are now actively hitting nails: "I walked by this morning and scaffolding is up!"
It was a lesser-known piece of the Recovery Act that made these renovations possible. You see, TNDC got a tax credit for this project back in 2007 to help finance investment in low-income housing. Usually, TNDC would then turn around and sell that tax credit to a private investor to get the capital they need for the project.
That's never been a problem for TNDC, a solidly credit-worthy group. But when the credit market froze up during the financial crisis, Don told me that he could find no private investors to come in on the project and TNDC couldn't raise the needed funds. No funds, no rehab, no jobs.
But then the Recovery Act came along with a program that allowed the TNDC to convert these credits into an upfront grant that gave them the cash they needed to start construction. Moreover, once the Recovery Act dollars were in place, a bunch of private lenders liked what they saw, and provided the other half of the financing for the project. So now instead of tax credits sitting idle while construction workers are out of a job, the Recovery Act has put brought together public and private investment to put folks back to work renovating these buildings.
Don told me straight up: "We were saved by the stimulus program."
So if you happen to walk by Turk St. or Eddy St. down in the Tenderloin and see a bunch of hardhats at work keeping seniors well-housed, that's the Recovery Act in action.
We're gonna build for other nations and our Infrastructure is coming apart...
What are the official distributor of Crumbs is that your Dept., the Department of Crumb Distribution attached to the Vice President's office...?
but to get past that damn filabuster
need to add more tax cuts
so less money for infrastucture!
Meanwhile in the Bay Area every fourth house sits vacant and more people are being evicted every day. Your administration has done exactly nothing to help people stay in their homes.
Good read on two innovators that will help put people to work and help the emmission problems.
The remaining 70% is spent without any regard as to 'real world' needs of the local housing market. Key targeted special interests are served. 'Shovel ready' jobs last 6 to 8 months...maybe a year. And the taxpayer pays back the entire amount through higher taxes plus interest so some construction workers can be kept busy for a few months.
Dumb.
Heck, crazy righties weren't even happy about 1/3 of the stimulus being tax cuts.
TAX CUTS!!!!
Righty-Gasm!
Whoever gave this loan is either taking a big risk or is being backed by the Federal Government. Basically it looks like the People are going to bend over again for this one.
Private lenders and rescue can parse in the same sentence only in conjunction with the word "themselves".
Is that a hard concept to understand?
And the stimulus will have brought 3 million+ jobs by the time its finished.
If ObamaCare gets passed some how, economists have stated that the economy will slow down even more or stall in to a double dip recession. Also Obama and the Dems have spent so much money that we might go bankrupt. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030502974.html
Just a few questions. Where did that money come from? If it was taken from other taxpayers doesn't that just mean economic activity was destroyed somewhere else? If it was borrowed, doesn't it have to be paid back some day from taxes? Won't that just destroy economic activity in the future? If it was printed, won't that just cause inflation and make everybody worse off?
Why is there all of the controversy over health care reform? Everybody could have their own persona doctor travelling with them 24 hours a day with a mobile surgery - the cost could be paid just by putting another number on a page that didn't mean everything!
I hope you are not in a position of any responsibility.
More than 15,000 San Francisco city workers across all departments will receive layoff notices Friday
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/02/BA471C9UVR.DTL#ixzz0hRF1WyZM
That stimulus sure is working great.
Here in Atlanta, the city's schools' budget went up 31% from 2005 to 2009, while the enrollment went down 6%. The stimulus bill has awarded $54 million to this poor distressed school board.
For American families, many of whom are undergoing financial distress, Congress has handed each and every household in this country a bill of $1,000 JUST for the education portion of this bill. GO LOOK AT THE NUMBERS. LOOK AT THE SCHOOL BOARD BUDGETS. If you have a brain, it should infuriate you!
This article is really the first instance of me seeing people who were first and worst hit by the housing collapse, those workers in the residential construction industry, getting any relief via the stimulus money. Those transportation projects in the 'stimulus' bill are for government contractors who were doing just fine with normal levels of government outlays. They aren't buying capital equipment and hiring full crews for those extra projects, it's just windfall work for them.
-RLee
http://therleepost.blogspot.com
i feel bad for these people and unemployment benefits are their main safety net.
thank you Mr. Bernstein.
Two government agencies working together doing a bang up job. I am da mn sick and tired of government bashers, who for the most part do not even think of all the things the government does for them. But let their be a little pot hole in the road and wait for them to bi tch about it.
I just wonder who pays for all the salaries of all the government employees and military personnel?
Oh, yeah: ALL of Americans are subsidizing and paying their salaries and benefits.
The development of this project was delayed because it lacked the $21m in private financing it needed to proceed, right?
So, now, Recovery funds provided half the money for this investment in low-cost housing?
And, the owners of the property still own the property?
Is this an outright transfer of half the money to the owners of the property?
Some private investors are making out on the government's handout?
I'm missing, from the information in this article, how giving money to private investors is a good deal. It seems rather like giving money to bankers.
Wouldn't some bridge or road or rail construction benefit a lot more people than this?
If you're really concerned about high taxes and deficits, how about calling for deep cuts in the trillion dollar a year military-industrial complex? How about shutting down some of the more than 760 US military bases overseas and ending both wars? And what exactly is your plan to make American education competitive with the rest of the world?
Do you have an elderly parent living on Social Security? Would you throw them out in the streets or let them starve or go without medical care so that you can hoard more of your paycheck?