Affordable Housing Funds Hit the Ground

A residential complex in Washington, D.C., is set to begin renovations into affordable housing using federal dollars to help fund state and local housing projects that have been stalled by the recession. The project is one of the nation's first to be funded by a new Treasury bond program created last fall.

From the Washington Post:

The District's Housing Finance Agency said it is one of the first such agencies in the country to close on a deal under the U.S. Treasury Department's New Issue Bond Program, and Webster Gardens, which was built in 1921, is the first housing development in the city to take advantage of the funds.

Navigating the new bond program was tricky, District housing officials told the Post.

Harry D. Sewell, executive director of the D.C. agency, said it entered "uncharted water" working on the transaction.

"It took a great deal of creativity, persistence and even a little prayer to get this done," Sewell said in a statement.

Here's some more info on the Treasury's New Issue Bond Program.