Amy M. McClain

Real Estate, Energy and Project Finance, Housing, Transactional Finance

Amy M. McClain is a partner in the Real Estate Department and a member of the Energy and Project Finance, Housing, and Transactional Finance Groups. Ms. McClain primarily represents public housing authorities and affordable-housing developers in the context of mixed-finance transactions.

Ms. McClain has closed several affordable-housing transactions involving a variety of funding sources, including, for example, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, HOPE VI, tax-exempt bonds, state housing finance agency loan funds, and conventional financing. These transactions have provided her with the opportunity to negotiate issues with and finalize evidentiary submissions to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in addition to addressing traditional real estate issues intertwined with low-income housing development.

Representative Matters

• Represented the Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration in connection with the nation's largest bond issuance and Low Income Housing Tax Credit acquisition/rehabilitation transaction, involving more than $700 million in funds for the modernization of more than 4,000 units within 33 public housing developments
• Represented the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver in connection with its acquisition/rehabilitation Low Income Housing Tax Credit transaction, which maximized the tax credit-eligible basis generated by Energy Performance Contract improvements to three high-rise public housing sites
• Represents the Housing Authority of the City of Tacoma, Washington, in relation to the Salishan HOPE VI revitalization and the authority's mortgage of public housing land to finance the infrastructure of a portion of the redeveloped Salishan site
• Represents a Pennsylvania-based affordable-housing developer in its projects in Baltimore, including the redevelopment of the former Freedom Village and Claremont Homes site, a portion of the East Baltimore development initiative, and Uplands, each involving various state and local financing resources, as well as compliance with the city's Bailey Consent Decree requirements
• Represents the Boston Housing Authority in multiple mixed-finance affordable-housing efforts, including the redevelopment of Franklin Hill and Maverick Gardens public housing sites into mixed-income/low-income housing tax credit developments as well as the renovation of Long-Glen Apartments into an affordable-housing complex providing public housing and project-based Section 8 units, with a portion creating a preference for residents with severe mental illness

Pro Bono Experience

Consulted with various community organizations related to HOME Program requirements and the City of Baltimore's application process for Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) recognition

Professional Activities

American Bar Association, Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law

Maryland Bar Association

Housing and Development Law Institute

Ballard Spahr's Pro Bono Committee

Recognition & Accomplishments

Named to the Maryland Daily Record's 2011 Leading Women list, one of 46 women under the age of 40 recognized for their exceptional "professional experience, community involvement, and commitment to inspiring change"

Publications

Co-author, "Mixed-Finance Development of Public Housing," ABA's Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development

"The Derailing of Maryland Property Law," 60 Maryland Law Review 1211, 2001

Speaking Engagements

"Use of Nontraditional Funding Structures for Development by Public Housing Authorities," American Bar Association's 19th Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Conference, Washington, D.C., May 26, 2010

Panel moderator, "What Lawyers Should Know About Going Green," American Bar Association's 19th Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Conference, Washington, D.C., May 26, 2010

"Leveraging Resources through Energy Financing Tools," National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), Summer Conference, Portland, Oregon, July 16-18, 2009

Speaker and moderator, "Green Finance and Funding: Financial Resources and Models for Green Development," HUD HOPE VI Green Building & Energy Efficient Development Conference, Washington, D.C., June 25-26, 2009

"Neighborhood Stabilization Program: Acquisition and More," National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (Colorado and Mountain Plains Chapter), Annual Conference, Snowmass, Colorado, June 17-19, 2009

"Public Housing Mortgage Program and Operating Fund Financing Program," U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Maximizing Leverage Conference, Atlanta, June 12-13, 2008

"Affordable Housing Financing Resources," MICPEL Basics of Real Estate Transactions Evening Series, April 8, 2008

"Financing Affordable Housing – A Primer," American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Teleconference, April 17, 2007

"Financing Affordable Housing – A Primer," American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Teleconference, Joint Fall CLE Meeting, Denver, 2006

Board Memberships

Southeast Community Development Corporation

University of Maryland School of Law (J.D. 2002, with honors)
Student Lawyer, Community Transactions Clinic; Member, Order of the Coif; Associate Editor, Maryland Law Review

American University (B.A. 1993, magna cum laude)

Maryland