- Represents the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities on a broad range of regulatory, legislative, and strategic issues, including the interpretation and drafting of legislative proposals to further the interests of housing agencies.
- Drafted legislation to reauthorize the HOPE VI program that has been introduced in Congress by Senator Barbara Mikulski.
- Advise the Housing Authority Insurance Group in its efforts to support the affordable housing advocacy of its members and other housing organizations including its sponsorship of the Summit on the Future of Public Housing.
- Represented the Niagara Falls Housing Authority in a complex 115-unit mixed-finance project involving HOPE VI funds, ARRA funds, tax-exempt bond proceeds, and tax-credit exchange funds.
- Represented the New Bedford, Massachusetts Housing Authority in a $15 million bond issue secured by future public housing capital funds.
- Assisted housing agencies participating in the Moving to Work Demonstration Program, which is designed to provide housing agencies with the regulatory flexibility to implement creative, local affordable housing strategies.
- Participated in industry efforts to streamline public housing regulations through the Public Housing Administrative Reform Initiative.
Stephen I. Holmquist
Washington, DC Office
Stephen I. Holmquist is a Member who has worked in affordable housing for more than 30 years, holding positions in government at the local and federal levels, the nonprofit sector, and private law firms. Steve has expertise in affordable housing redevelopment and preservation, administrative, regulatory, and corporate law, and legislative matters. He represents public housing agencies (PHAs) and affordable housing organizations on a wide range of matters involving the public housing and Section 8 programs, the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), Moving to Work (MTW), Faircloth to RAD, mixed-finance redevelopment, Choice Neighborhoods, HOPE VI, Project-Based Vouchers (PBV), the Capital Fund Financing Program (CFFP) and other bond-financing transactions.
Steve represents a number of business organizations and associations in the affordable housing sector, serving as General Counsel to the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA), the MTW Collaborative, and Housing Authority Insurance Group (HAI), on a broad range of corporate, regulatory, legislative and strategic issues. Additionally, Steve has been working with a number of PHAs seeking to convert their aging public housing stock to Section 8 assistance through RAD or the demolition/disposition process. On behalf of CLPHA, Steve was intimately involved in development and enactment of the legislation authorizing RAD and he continues to work with HUD and PHA clients on RAD implementation issues. In 2008, Steve co-authored the Policy Framework for the Summit on the Future of Public Housing on behalf of the public housing industry for submission to the Obama transition team. In addition, Steve drafted the legislation which extended and expanded the MTW program.
Prior to R&C, Steve served as Special Deputy for Policy in the Office of Policy, Program, and Legislative Initiatives at HUD where, among other things, he helped to implement the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (QHWRA) through regulations and other guidance, implemented and managed the MTW program, and developed the Capital Fund Financing Program (CFFP). Prior to HUD, Steve was Assistant General Counsel at the Boston Housing Authority. In addition, prior to law school, he worked as the property manager for a neighborhood-based nonprofit development and management company in Baltimore, MD.
Selected Recent Work
Major Prior Working Experience
- Special Deputy for Policy, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Public and Indian Housing, Washington DC, 1996-2002
- Assistant General Counsel, Boston Housing Authority, Boston MA, 1989-96
- Associate, Hale and Dorr, Boston MA, 1987-89
- Property Manager, Neighborhood Rental Services, Baltimore MD, 1981-83
Speaking Engagements
- The State of Housing Initiatives Under the New Trump Administration PART 1 & 2- HOTMA, MTW, Section 8, Immigration, and More! – Housing and Development Law Institute 2017 Spring Legal Conference, Washington, DC, May 11, 2017
- Panelist, ” The Future of Public Housing Finance”. Low Income Housing Coalition conference. March 29, 2011.
- Panel Moderator, Public Housing Reform, ABA Forum on Affordable Housing, May 2008.
- Speaker at many conferences and meetings of housing organizations, including Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Public Housing Authority Directors Association, the National Leased Housing Association, the Housing and Development Law Institute, and the ABA’s Forum on Housing and Community Development Law.
Publications
- Author and Presenter, Policy Framework, The Summit on the Future of Public Housing, September 2008.
- Contributing Author, Mixed Finance Development: Privatizing Public Housing Through Public/Private Development Partnerships, (chapter in Privatizing Governmental Functions (Deborah Ballati ed., 2001)).
- Co-author, Summary of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, December 1998.
Professional Activities
- Member, American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law
- Board Member, Housing and Development Law Institute (Washington, DC)
- Board Member, Montgomery Housing Partnership (Montgomery County, MD)
- Member, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials
Education
Harvard Law School, J.D.
Harvard University, M.P.P.
University of Pennsylvania, B.A. cum laude
Bar Admission
- District of Columbia Bar
- Massachusetts Bar