Joseph L. Flatley became Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp.’s (MHIC) first president in 1990, at a time when the economy was facing crisis, much like it is today.

The organization was created by a consortium of banks and other corporate investors to fill a critical gap in meeting the credit needs of developers who could not get financing from traditional lenders. This financing has resulted in the creation and preservation of more than 12,300 units of housing and approximately 135,478 square feet of commercial space. 

MHIC recently created a fund for foreclosed properties to help communities that have been hard-hit by foreclosures, and is working with the state to figure out a new program from the recent recovery package that allows the state to exchange tax credits for cash. The organization expanded its focus to include all of New England at the end of last year.

With the uncertainty of the future troubling many, Flatley said MHIC will step up efforts during these tumultuous times and hopefully flourish in an environment not too different from the one in which it was created.

Joseph L. Flatley

Title: President

Company: Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp.

Experience: 30+ Years

Age: 61

How did you get involved with MHIC?

When MHIC got started in 1990, the environment was kind of like how it is now. It was a very bad time for the banks, and we were in the midst of a real estate recession. At that time there was almost a bank failure a week. Friends sort of said to me, “You’re going to work for some group that banks are putting together real estate loans for?”

And you did. How did the organization evolve over the years?

Our very first loan was 604 Mass. Ave. and it was for a small minority developer who was doing a condo deal – I think it was four units, one of the units, he was to live in himself, and then sell the other three units – and it kind of grew from there. We’ve done a combination of ownership and rental since then. Initially, our products were just loans and then low-income tax credits, and then we did low-income tax credit funds and then more recently we’ve done – over the last six years – new markets tax credits.

Do you expect the number of projects that MHIC does to go down this year?

Actually, the amount of projects done in 2009 will probably number more than they did last year.

On an annual basis in volume, we do somewhere between $80 million to $100 million worth of projects … My guess is that this year we’ll do somewhere around $120 million to $140 million. The reason for that is because of new markets tax credits.

We received the third-largest allocation of new markets tax credits last year – $109 million – so that will be a big area of activity for us this year. The credit’s been authorized by the federal government, but we still need to find investors to put projects together. It’s been challenging getting hard debt.

The new markets tax credit program is a complicated, but a very effective program for doing downtown revitalization projects, cultural facilities, and buildings for businesses and nonprofits.

Is this a good or a bad time for MHIC right now?

It’s an important time for us because I think our value to the community is greatest in times like this. If you go back seven or eight years when the banks were making a lot of loans, a lot of people were buying tax credits. We were in the market, too, but we were just another player and there was lots of credit available.

When there’s less credit available, then our value is much greater. It is very challenging for us because if banks and other financial institutions are not profitable they aren’t paying taxes – and don’t need tax credits.

Five things you don’t know about Joe Flatley:

1.) Family is a big deal, he said. He and his wife, Cindy, have two daughters, Alex (Alexandra) and Cala, (Michaela), two sons, Jonathan and Jason, and a granddaughter, (Jason’s daughter), Mataya.

2.) He’s been playing a monthly poker game with the same group of friends for 20 years.

3.) Joe lives in the Navy Yard in Charlestown.

4.) He likes to walk his Yorkshire terrier, Da Vinci.

5.) Joe is involved in a number of national organizations including the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders. He goes to Washington, D.C. every couple months. “It’s a very active time right now,” he said.