The Committee on Community Economic Development (CED) provides a forum for lawyers to share their expertise and perspectives derived from working with (i) entrepreneurs and community-based organizations seeking to revitalize communities and (ii) the institutions that finance such initiatives. The Committee provides an opportunity to (i) share knowledge and develop policies on the emerging law of CED, (ii) support transactional lawyers involved in CED, and (iii) work with other committees of the Business Law Section, as well as other ABA entities. To join the Committee go to http://www.abanet.org/committee_join/ocj_ action.cfm?comid=CL746000

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Toronto Community Housing is the largest social housing provider and landlord in Canada. We are home to 165,000 low and moderate-income tenants living in 60,000 households. The average household income is $14,000. Our housing portfolio encompasses over 360 high-rise and low-rise apartment buildings and 1,000 homes throughout Toronto.

Our tenants come from diverse backgrounds. This diversity includes age, education, language, sexual orientation, mental and physical disability, religion, ethnicity and race as well as increasing diversity in lifestyles and values.

I am the General Counsel and manage the Legal Services Unit comprised of 12 staff. My practice is restricted to corporate and banking law; although I do manage other practice areas such as litigation.

Toronto Community Housing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the City of Toronto. We are incorporated as a business corporation in that we are in the business of social housing and have the ability and are encouraged to generate profits from non-housing businesses to support our portfolio. For example, we own the largest construction and maintenance provider to the Ontario multi-residence housing market.

We operate at arm's length from the City. Toronto Community Housing has a standalone S&P credit rating of AA- and has issued to date $250 million of bonds. We also have a master loan platform for our banks with committed facilities in excess of $250 million.

Toronto Community Housing is in the midst of a number of site re-developments involving multi-phased building replacements over the next 10 years at a cost well in excess of $1 billion. We develop, build and sell market condominiums to pay for the replacement of social housing buildings.

The bulk of my practice is transaction driven. Most recently, we closed the first ever Canadian public-private partnership to develop a community energy system for a 85 acre re-development site which will eventually house upwards of 10,000 people.

My practice is extremely broad extending from swap loan transactions all the way to drafting youth tenant waivers for field trips; the most recent field trip was a busload of youths to Washington D.C. for President Obama's Inauguration.

I've been a member of the ABA for many years. As a Canadian lawyer, I look to the ABA for knowledge on leading edge laws and insights on new issues to expect in Canada, especially with respect to community economic development which is a key goal of Toronto Community Housing. I also enjoy the tremendous collegiality of ABA lawyers despite my alien status!

Inadequate funding of capital needs is a common U.S. and Canadian challenge. At Toronto Community Housing, our buildings have an average age of 40 years and require significant capital repairs to maintain their useful life. There are also significant demands for new housing; there are over 70,000 people on Toronto's waiting list for social housing.

In the U.S., funding for housing is essentially a federal responsibility. In Ontario, social housing is a municipal responsibility. The bulk of municipalities are restricted to a property tax base and don't have additional taxing authority. This limitation severely restricts the ability of municipalities to match and fund the demand for social housing. Some larger municipalities such as the City of Toronto were recently given broad taxing authority. But, these new rights have not been fully used as there is limited tax room in the public for new municipal taxes.

Use your significant leverage as a governmental or public agency to negotiate the very best CED programs from the private sector. Don't be afraid to be a bully in extracting the very best terms possible. Tax dollars are scarce and we have a duty to leverage every dollar for maximum impact and results.

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Friday, April 17, 2009
2:30 - 4:30 PM
Room 215 & 216, Level Two
Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Center

Chair: Mr. Howie Wong

Cosponsored by: Committee on Banking Law, Committee on Consumer Financial Services, Committee on Nonprofit Organizations and Committee on Pro Bono

Panelist Biographies:

Mr. Bernd Christmas, a Partner at the law firm of Maurice Law, Barrister & Solicitors, focuses primarily on corporate and commercial law. Previously, as Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader at the law firm of Hill & Knowlton Canada he developed its aboriginal affairs practice. Mr. Christmas has served as CEO of the Membertou Band of Nova Scotia and the Membertou Corporate Division. In 2003, Prime Minister Chrétien appointed him to the External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulation. He has served on the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board and the executive committee that organized the Governor General's Conference on Leadership and Diversity. He currently serves on the board of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. Mr. Christmas earned his law degree in 1991 from Osgoode Hall at York University.

Ms. Leila Finucane Edmonds is the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining DHCD, Ms. Edmonds was a vice president in the community development department of HSBC Bank USA. Prior to HSBC, Ms. Edmonds worked at Seedco, a national community development intermediary focused on homeownership, workforce and economic development. Ms. Edmonds has also practiced commercial real estate law at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher and corporate law at the law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Ms. Edmonds holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from NYU's School of Law and a Master of Urban Planning from NYU's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Ms. Kate Lauer is a policy advisor to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, an institution at the World Bank that strives to increase the poor's access to financial services. Since 2000, Ms. Lauer has worked on microfinance-related legal reform issues, with a recent focus on "branchless banking" - the use of technologies to access financial services. Ms. Lauer commenced practice at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. Subsequently, Ms. Lauer was in-house counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and then General Counsel for Whitehall, a Goldman Sachs-managed international investment fund. Prior, Ms. Lauer was assistant professor in the Legal Studies Department of Central European University in Budapest. Ms. Lauer has a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. in economics from Dartmouth College.

Mr. Rutledge Simmons is Deputy General Counsel of NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit focused on community economic development, with a specific emphasis on affordable housing. Mr. Simmons handles a variety of legal and non-legal matters, including helping design significant grant programs such as the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program and its underlying legal assistance program. Prior to joining NeighborWorks, Mr. Simmons practiced corporate law for ten years at the law firms of Holland & Knight, LLP and Hale and Dorr, LLP. Mr. Simmons is also Chair of the Committee on Community Economic Development. Mr. Simmons is a graduate of Harvard College '89 and Columbia Law School '94.

Mr. Howie Wong is General Counsel of Toronto Community Housing, the largest social housing provider and landlord in Canada. Prior to joining Toronto Community Housing in 2005, Mr. Wong was a mergers and acquisition lawyer for over 18 years with a national Canadian law firm. Mr. Wong graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. Mr. Wong also holds a B.A. in Commerce from the University of Toronto.



As part of the...
2009 ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting
Vancouver, BC
April 16 - 18, 2009

» Meeting Registration
» Website
» Brochure

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THE PROBLEM
As a result of a number of events which have occurred recently with respect to federal and state budget and fiscal policies, recessionary economic conditions, together with ever increasing demands for public services, have put local governmental units under ever increasing pressure to attempt to identify alternative sources of revenue. This negative impact is especially felt by those communities that have structurally weak fiscal bases. These are often the same communities that are experiencing the highest tax rates and have the greatest number of residents who are intense consumers of essential public services. These groups of fiscally weak communities are often referred to as "service centers."


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Being an economic development practitioner often requires a marshaling of all of one's creativity. Much economic development entails real estate development and innovation is often an integral part of the real estate development process. From my vantage point non-profit institutions in the affordable housing space often take it to a higher level. They must. They must meld together a variety of financing sources, leverage those dollars and nimbly navigate numerous obstacles to meet their objectives.


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Renee is a twenty year old fashion design student who works two jobs to make her dream of designing and selling her own clothing a reality. Jason is a sixteen year old high school student who with the help of his friends has been running a successful event promotions business for over a year. These two young people have the drive, commitment, and skills to become successful entrepreneurs. They are both members of youth-directed nonprofit organizations that focus on entrepreneurship education and enterprise development. Through their participation in youth entrepreneurship organizations they are gaining the business, marketing, communications, and financial literacy skills to develop their own businesses, but they are missing important legal services necessary to grow budding businesses that create their own jobs. This article describes the need for youth entrepreneurship legal services and how pro bono lawyers can assist low-income youth entrepreneurs.


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• 2009 Spring Meeting
  April 16-18, 2009
  Vancouver, BC
  
  
• 2nd Annual Global Business Law Forum
  June 10-12, 2009
  Hong Kong, China
  
  
• 2009 Annual Meeting
  July 30 - August 3, 2009
  Chicago, IL
  
  

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The Committee on CED invites you to submit an article for possible publication in future issues. The articles do not need to be long. Submitting an article is a great way to share your perspective and/or expertise with fellow practitioners and to participate in Committee activities. If interested, please email your article for consideration by clicking on the name of any of the newsletter editors listed. Thanks.

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