Last month, Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior, and Scott Turner, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, announced a joint task force with the goal of "increas[ing] housing supply and decreas[ing] costs for millions of Americans." The task force aims to do this by locating federally owned land, which is currently underutilized and suitable for residential development, and then transferring that land to "states or localities" to alleviate the ever-increasing housing shortage. Concurrently, the respective agencies plan to cut red tape that otherwise would have slowed or prevented, the development of these underutilized federal lands.
Once suitable land is identified, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) plans to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer the land to various entities capable of developing residential properties. State and local governments, public housing authorities, and non-profit organizations could receive properties at reduced or no cost if the intended use supports public needs, such as affordable housing. Additionally, private developers could also acquire such properties through competitive public sales, if their plans align with the government's affordability and community development goals.
Ultimately, the success of this task force will be dependent on a number of factors, including the actual land that the GSA identifies as underutilized and suitable for development, which, for the most part, has yet to be announced. Residents, particularly those in affordable housing developments, need access to public transit, grocery stores, employment, schools, and other necessities that allow for a minimum quality of life. While the federal government might own more than 500 million acres of land, the critical number will be the number of acres of land in places where people actually live and work. An affordable housing development located in a sparsely populated area, lacking in public transit to employment hubs and/or being firmly within a "food desert" (with the nearest supermarket being miles away), fails to thoughtfully consider the day-to-day needs of its residents.
That said, there is great potential for this task force to identify invaluable land located within metropolitan areas where the affordable housing crisis is dire. If the right land is identified and made available, there could be significant opportunity for developers to contribute to the expansion of housing stock this way, as one of the most challenging steps of the development process, site control, would be greatly facilitated.
The Affordable Housing and Tax Credits Team at Nelson Mullins will be closely following this task force and will be at the ready to assist developers should they pursue this avenue of site acquisition, once more information and guidance is released.
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