Development Assistance

Getting the Job Done

Development Assistance (sometimes called Technical Assistance) is NDC’s core service.  It’s more than consulting.  We don’t do studies and we don’t write reports.  Instead, we work with our clients, becoming part of their operating force.  Within their strategic framework, we propose, design and organize new programs, or review and update existing ones.  And we get projects financed and built.
 
Whether their goal is job creation, community investment, affordable housing, small business development, or neighborhood commercial revitalization, all NDC clients expect and get expert guidance in development and finance from our professional staff, located in our 20 regional offices throughout the country.  At the same time, all Development Assistance is designed to build local capacity in community and economic development.
 
NDC staff come from careers in both public and private sectors.  They understand the needs and concerns of both, and it is this understanding which sets NDC apart, enabling us to build bridges between the finance community, the city, and the neighborhood, and bring together public sector resources with financing from banks or other private investors.
 
NDC’s Development Assistance for development projects includes:

• Evaluation of sponsor/developer capacity
• Financial review and structuring
• Review of appraisals, cost assumptions, capital budgets, operating statements, marketing data and funding commitments
• Advising on equity sources and structuring
• Identifying and securing other funding sources as needed
• Assisting with development issues during predevelopment and development phases
• Negotiating with investors, lenders and developers
• Structuring loan documents and development agreements
• Advising on regulatory and administrative issues    

 
NDC’s Development Assistance for economic development and business finance programs covers:

• Program goals
• Eligibility criteria
• Underwriting guidelines
• Program documents
• Intake, application and approval processes
• Internal administration

 
Development Assistance Around the Country  

• When IBM closed its 8,000-job facility in the Hudson River City of Kingston, NY, the City asked NDC to help.  Together, we designed and created a comprehensive economic development program – revolving loan funds, new waterfront and downtown redevelopment and a business park for new industrial growth.  All have played a critical role in Kingston’s recovery.
• They City of Bridgeport, CT, used NDC’s development assistance to create and capitalize its $7.0 million Grow Bridgeport Fund, a partnership of the City and the finance community that provides alternative financing for small businesses, from start-ups to mature growing companies.
• In San Bernardino County, El Monte , Los Angeles County, Oakland, Long Beach and Carson, CA, NDC works on unique and innovative financing—from federal grants to local sales tax revenue financing, and from local banks to capital markets—to improve neighborhoods, create more jobs and build better housing.
• NDC’s services helped the City of Seattle redevelop its retail core and keep Nordstrom’s flagship and world headquarters downtown.  Our TA helped Jackson Hole, WY, find ways to alleviate a desperate shortage of affordable housing for working families, and in Spartanburg, SC, it is helping bring new commercial investment to revitalize an undeserved neighborhood.

Public Library

Yonkers, NY

Much of the City of Yonkers has been transformed over the past 15 years through a successful redevelopment strategy focusing on its waterfront, its downtown, and its neighborhoods. These efforts have brought about a robust economic recovery, turning what was once a distressed city marked by disinvestment, high crime rates and financial mismanagement, into one of New York State’s most vibrant cities.

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Tacoma, WA

The National Development Council began its technical assistance relationship with the City of Tacoma nearly 30 years ago. At that time Tacoma was experiencing a progressive decline in its manufacturing economy, leaving in its wake an underutilized blue-collar work force and a significant decline in the city’s downtown, marked by increasingly broad tracts of vacant land and buildings. In the early 1990s, the City of Tacoma enlisted NDC's assistance in addressing these problems. Today the City, with NDC's help, has successfully transformed itself into a thriving area.

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Madison County, IL

Madison County, IL, was a 20th century industrial powerhouse. The 1980s brought a gradual decline in the County’s prospects and Madison County struggled to provide quality affordable housing and manage its dilapidated building stock. The County partnered with NDC in 1996 to achieve two primary goals: expand for-sale housing development in the older communities through local Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs) and leverage affordable housing development through the HOME program. NDC worked with the County to reach these critical milestones – and stayed to do even more as the County’s goals evolved.

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