Housing attorneys at Ballard Spahr helped the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) close the largest public housing bond deal in American history. The deal makes about $400 million in public and private funds available to pay for much-needed renovations to 20,139 units. An additional $65 million in federal funds can be used to subsidize future operating expenses. Before the deal closed in March, NYCHA had been operating the housing developments without the help of federal, state, or city funding. Wayne H. Hykan, a Ballard Spahr partner who helped close the deal, tells Tax Credit Advisor, "It's an enormous benefit for the State of New York and for the housing authority and for the residents because the transaction turns on all these operating funds for these units. And it was a unique provision in ARRA that allowed this turn-on of the subsidy as a one-time thing to occur."