Land Use Planning for Thriving Communities

When a project needs incentive financing to make its capital structure work, MDRA produces a Potential Incentive Availability Report based on the above information. The following information provides a glimpse of what such a Report includes:

• Does project meet incentive program threshold eligibility criteria
• Evaluation of project scheduling and incentives timing interaction
• Capital structuring and project financial performance with potential incentives
• Impacts of incentive program requirements, limitations and costs
• Identification of public benefits (e.g., jobs, training, community renewal, fiscal impacts, energy sustainability, environmental restoration, public access or open space, etc.)
• Preliminary incentive agency contacts and application planning

• Project - Specific Incentive Work Tasks
• Funding program(s) regulations and eligibility review
• Requests for funding / application preparation and management
• Funding Agency – application review, monitoring and interaction
• Negotiation of terms and conditions and inter-subordinated creditor agreements
• Transaction documentation, capital stack and financing structure planning
• Post development project monitoring and report preparation
• Creative response to RFP for public development opportunities

• Pending changes to incentive programs to evaluate their business potential
• New projects by identifying types and locations of projects with high fundability likelihood and conveying that information to potential project sponsors
• Participation in creating new or revised governmental incentive sources and regulation writing

Notable MDRA incentive projects for public and private project sponsors include:

• A $240 million incentive package for a 400 million tons-per-day mixed-office waste deinking and market pulp facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. Responsibilities included securing and processing State energy bond financing, environmental remediation, and permitting, which included securing a crucial Beneficial Use Determination for residual sludges.
• An $85 million incentive package for the Long Dock Beacon project, a “Doral”-managed 166 Room LEED Gold Hotel and Conference Center proposed in Beacon, New York. Responsibilities included the structuring of a $39 million “incentives package” from New Market Tax Credits and other sources, as well as securing environmental and land use permits.
• Millions of dollars awarded to the City of Poughkeepsie, New York from a United States Department of Commerce Public Works Grant Program as a result of active lobbying at a Joint Congressional Rule Making Committee.
• Preparation of a successful 1st round HUD Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) program application which initiated the practice of making subordinated capital investments in real estate projects to meet established public benefits.
• Small Cities Community Development Block Grant for an economic development project which provides subordinated debt to Apple Land a proprietary day-care center as an economic development project. This project was the recipient of a national recognition award.

• Evaluating a project in light of incentive source criteria
• Establishing public purpose support statements
• Identifying potential governmental and community supportive relationships
• Achieving a decision indicating that both private and public entities want to support an incentives initiative for the project
• Establishing public support and private commitments deal points
• Initiating incentive applications and grantor agencies strategies
• Identifying project land use review and approvals procedures
• Establishing incentives’ terms, conditions, and inter-subordinated creditors arrangements
• Developing project implementation strategies

Unprecedented levels of public resources are being allocated to existing and new public financial incentive programs that target new, expanding, and existing public and private ventures as part of stimulus measures from Federal, state, and local governments.

Public notifications of fund availability for these assistance programs are being issued, requiring very fast application preparation and submission turnaround times in keeping with their economic stimulus agenda.

Obtaining funding through these sources of project and program public financial incentives requires that either knowledgeable staff or qualified consultants undertake an intensive, focused effort to define the program, complete application-required submissions and procedures, arrange for program and activity definition, budget and scheduling, and arrange for and present all partnership and other participant or supporter documentation.