Smith NMTC Closes Deal with Hancock Whitney and Habitat Pinellas

Innovative Partnership Will Add 42 Affordable For-Sale Homes to Distressed Communities

Smith NMTC Associates, LLC announces the closing of its latest New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transaction to support the development of affordable for-sale homes in Pinellas County, Florida. The deal was structured and closed in partnership with Hancock Whitney Bank, who provided the $6M NMTC allocation, and Habitat Pinellas (Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties). Established in 1985 as a nonprofit affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat Pinellas develops and sells single-family homes and provides housing counseling services, homebuyer education, and down-payment assistance to its low-income buyers. Hancock Whitney offers comprehensive banking services throughout the Gulf South. Smith NMTC structured the transaction, leveraging New Markets Tax Credits for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable homes in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Pinellas Park, and Holiday, Florida.

“Habitat Pinellas has a legacy of impact uplifting families through housing opportunities,” according to Howard Smith, principal of Smith NMTC. “It’s an honor to work closely with such a great organization to add to the affordable housing inventory in these communities and to restore the dream of ownership to the new homebuyers who will benefit from this project.”

With a $6M NMTC allocation from Hancock Whitney Bank and additional financing, this project will add 42 new affordable single-family homes across nine highly distressed census tracts where poverty rates are as high as 51 percent. All homes will be sold to individuals earning less than 75 percent of area median income.