Regional Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) Fund

The Regional Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) Fund is a strategic initiative designed to preserve and expand affordable housing by providing capital to nonprofit and socially driven developers. The program is administered by Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC), a community development financial institution (CDFI) that was founded in 1993 by a consortium of banks to fill a critical gap in meeting the credit needs of affordable housing developers.

The Regional NOAH Fund based in part on a similar, successful program in Boston-specific program, the Boston Acquisition Fund (BAF), which is also administered by MHIC, and is designed to support nonprofit and mission-driven developers in acquiring multifamily properties without existing income restrictions across Eastern Massachusetts.

The fund can allow developers to move quickly to acquire properties by offering senior and subordinate debt at a below-market rate for a term of up to 10 years. It can therefore serve as a bridge to a capital subsidy. Rents and tenant incomes are not regulated.

If the developer is unable to secure takeout financing, it can sell the property subject to two conditions: 1) Any profit from the sale goes back into the regional fund. 2) MHIC has a right of first refusal to acquire the property. The regional fund is best suited to small multifamily properties of between 5 and 50 units.