WASHINGTON, DC - Meridian Investments, Inc. announced the $ 87.5 Million closing of New York’s R4 Capital’s Institutional Low Income Housing Tax Credit Fund II. R4 Capital President Marc D. Schnitzer said: “By creating a public-private partnership to leverage the value of the federal tax credits, R4 Housing Partners II will create more than 1900 new affordable homes for families and seniors in 13 states. We are grateful for the confidence shown by our investor clients and for our longstanding partnership with Meridian Investments.”
“The diversified geographic LIHTC portfolio supports opportunity while bringing private sector market discipline that makes it an efficient means of creating new affordable housing,” said Meridian Chairman John Boc. “The gap between supply of and demand for affordable housing among extremely low-income renters doubled between 2007 and 2011,” Boc continued. “The R4 Capital experienced team of real estate professionals along with their strong financial underwriting team skills attracted a sophisticated group of institutional investors” said: Meridian Investments President Jerry McDermott. "I have asked R4 Capital to expand Fund II in order to close fourth quarter institutional investors that were unable to make the initial closing," McDermott continued.
“The Low Income Housing Tax Credit is widely considered to be the most effective affordable rental production program in the history of the nation, yet it accounted for just 3.3 percent of all federal housing expenditures in FY 2012, and just 4.3 percent of all federal tax expenditures,” explained Jack Casey, Vice Chairman, Meridian Investments. “The LIHTC program supports 95,000 jobs per year nationally, primarily in the small business sector and stimulates about $15 billion in housing investment annually,” Casey said.
Meridian Investments specializes in public-private institutional tax credit products, including low income housing, new market credits, wind energy tax credits, solar energy credits, renewable energy and many government-sponsored private sector partnerships. Meridian’s client and advisory engagements include major money center banks, insurance companies, utilities and leading high technology and software companies including Microsoft and Google.
Meridian Investments, Inc. was established in 1981 as an NASD Broker/Dealer licensed to sell direct participation programs and other forms of securities. Meridian is a national leader in placing corporate investors in the following tax-advantaged investments codified by the IRS: Affordable Housing (S42), Historic Rehabilitation (S47); Alternative Fuels (S29); Renewable Energy (S45); Like-kind Exchanges (S1031); New Markets Tax Credits (S45D); Tax Credit Remarkets. The Meridian Companies have serviced over 200 institutional and Fortune 500 clients, placing in excess of $16 Billion of institutional tax credit equity.