LaSalle Investment Management on institutional capital’s role in preserving affordable housing
by Andrea Zander
Institutional capital is playing an increasingly important role in preserving and creating affordable housing as policymakers, investors and communities confront a persistent shortage of attainable rental options.
In an exclusive interview with IREI, Russell Ginise, executive managing director and portfolio manager for affordable housing, and Jen Wichmann, U.S. head of research and strategy at LaSalle Investment Management, discuss how perceptions of institutional investment in affordable housing have evolved, whether concerns about large investors could discourage capital needed to preserve existing communities, and why public-private partnerships remain essential. They also address the balance between new housing production and the preservation of existing affordable units, including the risk that aging properties could deteriorate or convert to market-rate housing.
