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Last revised July 24, 2014 <br />• Continue to incent inclusionary housing strategies by reflecting their use in Housing <br />Performance Scores (see Part III). <br />• Incent inclusionary housing strategies through comprehensive plan review by recognizing their <br />contribution to a local government's planning for meeting their "fair share" of the affordable <br />housing need. <br />• Provide data, research, and best practices on inclusionary housing. <br />Assess feasibility of strategies to share risk <br />Achieving a more socially and economically integrated region and beginning to narrow regional <br />disparities through purposeful housing investments means shifting paradigms and thinking big. In <br />particular, investors in market rate or tax credit properties may need assurance —in some form of risk <br />mitigation —to expand the types of projects, in what types of markets, will adequate yield on investment. <br />One possible means of addressing these concerns would be to use the financial strength of multiple <br />organizations, or the financial strength of multiple projects, to create a risk pool. <br />Conceptually, this would function similar to risk pools as used by insurance companies, which band <br />together to guard against catastrophic risks such as floods or earthquakes, but would protect the <br />investors' interest as opposed to self interest as with insurance company risk pools. Contributors would <br />be mission- and financially -motivated stakeholders that have vested interest in the project -specific and <br />larger regional outcomes. If claims against the pool were required, the individual loss to specific <br />contributors is mitigated. Similarly, a portfolio of individual projects, all with individual risk profiles but <br />critically including "slam dunk" projects receiving the highest tax credit pricing or attracting broader <br />capital interest in proven sub -markets may be a means to reduce risk by spreading it across projects. <br />This approach meets the key concept of risk pooling, where demand variability is reduced if demand is <br />aggregated across locations, increasing the likelihood that high demand from one customer will be <br />offset by another. <br />Another potential means to assuage investor concerns would be for the same mission -oriented <br />participants to provide a form of direct investment guarantee based on the anticipated appreciation of <br />the worth of property or properties involved and their intended use. While the overall utility and <br />practicality of these strategies is admittedly unknown at present, their regional focus and potential <br />application are worth exploring in the face of our region's significant housing challenges. In addition to <br />the primary goal of attracting investor interest in alternative types of opportunities, an extremely <br />powerful signal would be sent about regional cooperation and innovation that can effect real change. <br />Council Role <br />• Investigate future Council roles in strategies to share risk. <br />Reduce or eliminate impediments to fair housing <br />The Fair Housing Act declares the federal government's intention to address and prevent discriminatory <br />practices in housing: "It is the policy of the United States to provide, within constitutional limitations, for <br />2040 HOUSING POLICY PLAN I METROPOLITAN COUNCIL <br />DRAFT RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Part IV: Opportunities for Impact I Page 67 <br />