The Southern Tier Regional Housing Investment Framework: a Focused Framework for Building Resources, Tools and Partnerships

The Southern Tier Developers Summit brings together public and private sector leaders to address the region's workforce housing needs. As markets shift nationally, now is the time for a coordinated regional approach to close the gap between what is being built and what working families need to live near their jobs. The Summit will introduce the Regional Workforce Housing Investment Framework, which connects homes that work for the modern workforce with what pencils out on the development side, both strengthening households' ability to access housing while bringing down the cost of construction so providers can deliver it. The focus is on putting that work into action, with a first look at the strategies and recommendations for the Southern Tier Workforce Housing Investment Fund and roles partners across the region can play as it takes shape.

LEARN...SHARE...JOIN...

Wednesday November 18th, DoubleTree Hotel

225 Water Street, Binghamton, NY

Registration and Networking: 8:30am

Summit Sessions: 9:30am-3:30pm

Register by November 11th to be guaranteed a seat!

After 11/11 please contact us for availability.

Meet Leading Housing Experts

Jeff Sauser CommunityScale

Co-founding Principal at CommunityScale, Jeff has over 15 years experience leading urban planning projects for public and private sector clients in urban, suburban, and rural contexts across the country.

Jeff Lubell Housing Innovations Group

Jeff has over 25 years of experience working on local, state and federal housing policy. Among other roles, he was a principal associate at Abt Associates / Abt Global for 12 years, ran the Center for Housing Policy in Washington D.C. and served as the director of the policy development division in HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research. He is now an independent consultant and a Senior Fellow at the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing.

James McIntyre Public Innovate

Founder & Principal of Public Innovate, a consulting firm supporting mission-driven organizations at the intersection of public finance, housing, and climate resilience. He brings experience across banking, government, and nonprofit leadership, with a focus on designing practical programs and financing solutions that move from concept to implementation.

Featured Speakers

Lenny Skrill, Assistant Commissioner NYS Homes and Community Renewal

Leonard Skrill is Assistant Commissioner at New York State Homes & Community Renewal (HCR), where he oversees multifamily and supportive-housing finance programs across Upstate New York. Based in Buffalo, he works with developers, municipalities, and nonprofit partners to advance affordable housing, preserve existing stock, and support neighborhood revitalization across Upstate. With extensive experience in capital financing Leonard focuses on aligning state housing resources with local workforce and community needs. He is committed to leveraging HCR’s tools to promote equitable, long-term housing outcomes across Upstate New York.

Michael Borges, Executive Director Rural Housing Coalition of New York

Michael brings more than 20 years of experience leading statewide organizations and advocating for housing and education, along with deep knowledge of regional planning and rural development. He holds a Master’s in Regional Planning from the University at Albany and a B.A. in Political Science from Miami University. A former Army National Guard member, he has served on numerous nonprofit and professional boards across New York.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Developers • Municipal leaders • Policy Makers • Economic Developers • Lenders • Real Estate Professionals • Foundations • Construction & Design Professionals • Planning Professionals...

LEARN:

Why few units are affordable to workers & where the market breaks down
How to leverage current programs and aggregate smaller projects
How structured funds have unlocked other stalled markets
How this Framework goes beyond lending, but also builds capacity with a variety of tools, as well as a pipeline of projects

SHARE:

Tell us how you think the Investment Fund can be applied in your neighborhood

JOIN:

Meet other local partners that have aligned goals to catalyze housing production
Join the team to present the Framework for a Southern Tier Housing Investment Fund to State Representatives & Governor Hochul

ATTENDEES WILL:

Explore regional data that defines current housing needs, including which housing types the market supports and where unmet demand sits
See emerging approaches in finance, construction and design, property models, and land use regulation with shared & reduced costs
Learn how preparing sites for development can de-risk housing projects and make them easier to finance and faster to build
Understand how working as a region can align local efforts and aggregate projects, creating the scale that makes development more cost-effective and more attractive to investors
Get the first look at how the Rebuild Framework is structured to put these solutions into practice
Know how organizations and projects can get involved as this work moves forward

REGISTRATION: $60.00 Includes all meals, sessions and refreshments!

QUESTIONS: Any questions regarding registration can be directed to [email protected]

EXHIBIT OPPORTUNITIES

Join the showcase of housing development partners throughout the day!

Click the link below to find out more.

APPRECIATION FOR SPONSORS & PARTNERS

Southern Tier 8 Regional Board

This event is presented by Southern Tier 8 Regional Board in cooperation with our County Planning Departments, thank you!

NYS Department of State

Thank you to the New York State Department of State, our funding partner!

Appalachian Regional Commission

Thank you to the Appalachian Regional Commission, our funding partner!

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Session Details

Schedule

8:30amBreakfast & Partnership Networking

Visit with our exhibitors, meet with other collaborators and enjoy breakfast.

9:30amWelcome & Introductions

Why is workforce housing so important for meeting our economic and community development goals? Jen Gregory, Executive Director of Southern Tier, will open the day, setting the stage for why housing and a regional approach matter to the Southern Tier’s economic future. She will touch on the investments shaping the region and what they mean for workforce housing.

9:40amHousing in Rural New York State

Michael Borges, Executive Director of the Rural Housing Coalition of New York

Michael will provide a statewide perspective on rural housing. The Coalition supports housing and community development organizations that serve rural communities across New York, giving him a broad view of what is working, what is getting in the way, and where the greatest needs are. His remarks will look at the housing challenges rural communities face, the opportunities available to them, and how state and federal policy and funding decisions shape what is implemented on the ground.

10:45amBuilding Regional Capacity to Implement Housing Solutions

Hear how we started with a regional approach to explore neighborhood needs and aggregate resources to build our capacity for the Regional Housing Investment Framework & Fund Design and give an introduction to the information and tools guiding our regional housing priorities.

The State of the Southern Tier’s Housing Conditions, Needs and Site Readiness

Jeff Sauser, Principal, CommunityScale

Mismatches between housing stock and workforce needs, measures of affordability, and the impact of deteriorating housing conditions all shape our communities’ ability to attract and retain workers. To lay the foundation for the investment framework, Jeff Sauser will present the region’s housing needs, show where current supply falls short, and identify which housing types the region should prioritize to meet our workforce attraction and retention goals.

11:45amNetworking and Lunch

Enjoy lunch and hear more about how we can align our investments for regional impact.

Prioritizing Investments for Regional Impact

Jen Gregory, Executive Director, Southern Tier 8 Regional Board

LEARN & SHARE: Jen will walk through how the region’s site suitability map can guide strategic planning and investment decisions across programs and funding sources for workforce housing development and prioritize those best positioned for workforce housing initiatives. She will also use this opportunity to hear from you about how you access and use resources to meet your housing goals.

The State Landscape for Workforce Housing

Lenny Skrill, Assistant Commissioner, NYS Office of Homes and Community Renewal

Lenny Skrill, Upstate West Director of Development at New York State Homes and Community Renewal

Lenny will give an overview of the direction of state housing policy and programs. He will explain how the state works across sectors to coordinate these efforts across different housing needs, and what that means for communities pursuing workforce housing in the Southern Tier.

1:10pmThe Southern Tier's Housing Value Chain

Jeff Lubell, Founder and CEO, Housing Innovations Group

Getting a home built or restored takes many steps, guided by a series of diverse stakeholders along the way. These hand-offs offer opportunities for efficiencies making it easier to build. They also create opportunities for friction, adding time and cost and potentially stalling projects before they even get to the planning stage. The "value chain" for housing development maps these steps from project idea to financing, construction or rehabilitation, and ultimately an occupied home. Jeff will demonstrate how the value chain can be applied to the Southern Tier and how by working together as a region we can establish shared tools and aggregated investment opportunities to close the gap in what it costs to build housing and what our community can afford.

2:00pmThe Southern Tier Workforce Housing Investment Framework and Fund Design

James McIntyre, Founder and Principal, Pubic Innovate

The Southern Tier faces housing challenges that many regions share: too few of the right homes, too little movement between them, and building costs the local market cannot bear. The Southern Tier Workforce Housing Investment Framework is built to get that market moving again, acting as a regional market maker where existing programs stop short. James McIntyre, Founder and Principal of Public Innovate, will lead the consulting team in showcasing the Implementation Framework for the Regional Workforce Housing Investment Fund. The presentation will cover the framework’s four primary components (catalytic fund, infrastructure fund, shared regional toolkit, and regional coordination and partnership), the proposed stack of tools, illustrative examples of how the tools interact with projects. Solutions include Mobility Products, Capital Stack Platforms & Financing Tools in a Housing Toolbox, designed for Southern Tier partners.

2:45pmThe Partnership & Project Pipeline Opportunity

No single organization in the Southern Tier can carry a housing project from plan to completion, and many of our communities lack the resources or partners to do it alone. Putting the investment framework into action will depend on a network of stakeholders, each playing a defined role. This session will highlight those roles, from organizations bringing housing projects forward, to lenders and finance partners, to communities hosting new development, to the partners who support construction and local capacity. When housing markets are regional, but housing decisions are local, how can organizations across the region work together to fill gaps and build a steady pipeline of projects ready for investment?

After the SummitSouthern Tier Sync-Up

Stick around for more conversation on the days presentations.

THE HOST

Supporting Community Collaborations: Southern Tier 8 Regional Board is a small, publicly funded organization that supports partnership development for economic recovery and growth with the mission to "partner with member counties to identify and address multi-county issues in order to improve the quality of life within the region” with Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Tioga & Tompkins counties. Over the last 5 years, the Regional Board has hosted similar networking opportunities to support broadband infrastructure improvements, resulting in ESD’s Connect All Office investments & construction projects underway to serve the last 23,000 households across the Southern Tier.

Over the past year, Southern Tier 8's Director of Regional Planning, Beth Lucas & the Regional Board's Housing Committee worked with the housing professionals and many value-chain stakeholders to draft the Framework. Chaired by Katie Borgella, Tompkins County Commissioner of Planning & Sustainability, with funding provided by New York State Department of State and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

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