The Small NOAH (Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing) program provides financial resources and technical assistance to potential developers and entrepreneurs interested in acquiring and renovating rental properties of four to 40 units in the state of Minnesota.
The program aims to increase the number of local preservation minded developers in the greater Minnesota housing market. The rental housing properties must be considered affordable but unsubsidized.
“Small NOAH creates a way for new developers to enter the rental property industry in rural places such as northeastern Minnesota and the Iron Range,” said Deborah Flannery of Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF). “We can provide financing to housing entrepreneurs that helps them acquire properties, make improvements and prepare them for the rental market.”
In addition to first mortgages, Small NOAH offers a mezzanine loan to developers, which is a form of financing that blends debt and equity. It reduces the amount of owner/investor equity required and makes it easier for new entrepreneurs to acquire and renovate properties.
“New developers may not have the equity required for conventional financing,” said Flannery. “Small NOAH helps new, less experienced developers, with an added interest in developers of color, enter the rental property business and create affordable, desirable rental housing in rural communities across Minnesota.”
To learn more about Small NOAH email Miranda Walker, GMHF Senior Loan Officer. Greater Minnesota Housing Fund is Minnesota’s leading nonprofit affordable housing lender that works in 87 counties across the state to provide low-cost financing to create and preserve single-family and multi-family homes. Over the past 25 years, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund has financed over 17,643 homes and provided affordable housing for more than 26,000 Minnesotans.
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