绿色房地产融资策略

Even in a real estate slump, theUrban Land Institute秋季会议是必不可少的活动。这2010年秋季会议, held this week, sounded two themes for sustainable real estate:

1. Green real estate has gone mainstream; and
2. Finding financing in a climate of constraint is the key challenge for both green and conventional projects.

至于第一个主题：绿色越来越成为公司占用的驱动力。开发商的戴夫·保罗（Dave Paul）说JBG和律师事务所合伙人威廉·沃尔什（William Walsh）Hunton Williams专门从事公司房地产租赁的人。沃尔什（Walsh）观察到，35岁及以下的公司雇员正在推动租户对绿色空间的需求。

Financing also was a top topic at the meeting this year, both for sustainable and conventional developers. The tone was set by FDIC Chair Sheila Bair in a keynote address. While the federally-insured banking sector has stabilized -- bank failures have been reduced since 2009 and balances at small institutions are holding steady -- debt liqudity (loan volume) remains far lower than desirable, Bair noted. The challenge for Bair and other regulators: ensuring capital adequacy and strong asset quality while encouraging lenders to extend credit.

But if you can get it, lock in your debt financing now. That's the judgment of top real estate economist Ken Rosen, chairman of罗森咨询小组andprofessor emeritusat the Haas School of Business at the Unversity of California at Berkeley.

Rosen's view: The real estate cycle has bottomed, and a slow, lengthy recovery is beginning. The strongest markets, like Washington, D.C., will begin to recover in late 2011. New York City will follow in 2012 and early 2013. Weaker markets will take up to five years to return to health. At the same time, interest rates are at record lows -- but that won't last "Inflation's coming back, so lock in your debt structure now," Rosen told me.

Sustainable real estate finance experts who presented at the conference are trying to do just that.

温迪·罗登（Wendy Rowden），董事总经理Jonathan Rose Companies, has been successful in raising favorably priced debt from a foundation partner and from CRA (Conmunity Reinvestment Act) lenders for green, socially responsible projects in Seattle, Washington and New Haven, Connecticut.

Capital costs on CRA loans can frequently be reduced withNew Markets Tax Credits, Rowden said. While today's interest rates are favorable, tougher lender underwriting standards and lower loan-to-value ratios (which require real estate owners to put up additional project capital) make the 2010 financing environment challenging, Rowden observed.

这Fannie Mae/Freddie MAC kibosh on PACE (property assessed clean energy) financing hasn't helped raise capital, but green finance expertshaven't given upon the concept.

PACE financing initiatives are still being developed for the commercial sector, says Bob Hinkle, president ofmetrus能量. Metrus, which structures negotiated financings for energy efficiency projects, also tries to utilize federal Recovery Act and community development funds to reduce financing costs. Like Hinckle, Greg Hale of theNatural Resources Defense Council旨在鼓励商业速度计划与公共资金结合使用。

Nina Albert, who heads the District of Columbia'sOffice of Green Economy, is also a fan of public-private partnerships to support green building. Albert spoke on Washington, D.C., efforts to develop a commercial PACE program that will combine federal grant funding with private loans. The district also hopes to provide residential PACE financing if the Fannie/Freddie flap is resolved. (Full disclosure: My firm is a member of a consortium that is bidding to provide services to the DC PACE initiative.)

A final, innovative thought on public-private collaboration to finance the retrofit of green and energy efficient buildings came fromHannon Armstrong's John Christmas: Use Department of Energy loan guarantee authority to backstop private lending. That's an idea that should make lenders and green property professionals smile.

Leanne Tobias是创始人和执行校长Malachite LLC, an advisory firm that specializes in the development, leasing, management, financing and certification of sustainable or green real estate on a global basis. You can get in touch with Leanne atthis link.

图片CC由Flickr用户许可Thomas R. Stegelmann.