CREA Edge Newsletter - May 2021

CREA Edge Newsletter - May 2021

EDGE Communications from the

Portfolio Management Frontline

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May 2021

SYNDICATIONS Q & A WITH MARY ANN LANG Despite the changes and challenges that COVID-19 has brought about, CREA’s Syndication and Investor Relations team has continued to find ways to serve investor clients and expand its resources and expertise. Hear from Mary Ann Lang, Managing Director - Syndications, to gain Syndications’ insight and what can be expected in the future. due to the pandemic. Some of the major market changes that affected Syndications were: update investors today. • Section 8 Tolerance and Reserve Analysis: COVID changed

• Travel: We are in a sales role and want to be out in front of our clients. Changing how we do business to make sure we are hearing from and reaching out to clients in the COVID world was a big adjustment. We adjusted (like all companies) to Zoom, Teams, WebEx, snail mail and home deliveries, depending on investors’ needs, but can’t wait to be back out visiting clients! • Post-ClosingFollow-up: COVID led to uncertainties on construction, lease-up and rent collection. Investors wanted to hear more often about their portfolio health, so we worked closely with the Portfolio Management team to address investor questions around these topics and continue to

underwriting and what is attractive to investors. During the pandemic, investors became more confident in Section 8 contracts getting paid and staying with the properties and looked to that source of revenue during the uncertain times. In addition, CREA and our investors looked closely at our reserves and CREA created sensitivities to confirm how long reserves and deal sources would last if vacancies were higher than anticipated. • Underwriting Challenges: We worked alongside other internal departments to create COVID guidelines (Construction timeline cushions, contract bid analysis, etc)...

HowwasSyndicationsmosteffected by COVID-19 & the pandemic? Despite COVID and uncertainties throughout 2020, the Syndications team and CREA’s investors stayed the course and continued to close a record amount of equity in 2020 and are tracking to have a big year in 2021. This has a lot to do with the strength of the Syndications team and how quickly we can adapt to the market changes that happened

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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: BRANDON CONWAY

PROPERTY IMPACT STORY: 915 BROAD STREET

Nearly 15 miles outside of New York City, 915 Broad Street is in the heart of downtown Newark, New Jersey. 90,000 square feet and five floors host 84 mixed-income residences directly above ground level retail, making it accessible to Newark residents and a great option for individuals and families looking for affordability and convenience...

After over 10 years at CREA, working within and alongside the Asset Management department - not to mention under the wing of Wayne Nelis, Brandon Conway, SVP - Special Assets has experienced a lot (including some serious travel tribulations and hilarity along the way). Learn more about Brandon and Special Assets... continue on page 6

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P2 SYNDICATIONS Q&A, CONT. P2 NEW HIRES

P3-4 PROPERTY IMPACT STORY, CONT. P6-7 EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

P8 AWARDS, DEADLINES & GOOD-TO- KNOW INFO

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SYNDICATIONS Q & A WITH MARY ANN LANG, CONT.

The has experienced a lot of growth in the last 6 months; how does this play into CREA’s long-term goals? Syndications team Yes. While we have several new faces, none of them are new to LIHTC. Growing a group certainly has its challenges, but we have benefited from the knowledge of our recent hires, finding best practices, and reinforcing our own procedures. We’re excited about how this will enable us to better serve the needs of investors with strategic planning and relationship development. This in turn reflects long term company goals to continue to be a relationship-focused company that grows organically with our clients. What is Syndications doing to prepare for an increase in the corporate tax rate and how will that affect the appetite for affordable housing investments? From what we’ve seen, investors are not yet ready to price in any increases to corporate tax rates. The Syndications Team will run sensitivities at higher tax rates for investors who request them. CREA has been investing in DEI and social impact. Are you seeing an increase in Investors who are also making these initiatives a priority? Yes, we have seen this across the board. We have seen investors who have not been in the market for a while come back into the market to invest in specific areas or developments that positively affect minority populations. In addition,

a number of our bank clients have created their own initiatives and set aside dollars dedicated to specific populations. To make sure CREA understands which properties in our pipeline meet specific criteria, we’ve updated our tracking >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8

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