Chris & John
- May 7, 2020
- 3 min read

Ep 51: Modular Developments and Affordable Workforce Housing with Evan Holladay

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to usher in a new reality with millions of job losses and economic shifts, the world of real estate is changing too. One of the biggest issues that have come to the forefront is the importance of providing affordable workforce housing for those who make up the backbone of the economy. Today’s guest, Evan Holladay, is leading the charge in rethinking affordable workforce housing. His company, Holladay Ventures, goes one step further, empowering communities through financial educational programs, healthcare assistance, and tutoring for kids, alongside housing. He is an advocate of creating sustainable community change, while also providing great returns for his investors. In this episode, we learn more about Evan’s real estate journey and what brought him to affordable workforce housing. He sheds light on his involvement with modular housing and where he sees this style of development going in the future. These houses have a twofold benefit in that they are efficient and address supply shortages and also compensate for skill shortages. We discuss some of the challenges in the space, and creative solutions address these issues. From there, we discuss workforce housing, some of the incentives that come with it, and an overview of the tax credits synonymous with these developments. Evan does a great job of distilling difficult to understand concepts and making them easily digestible. He's doing incredible work, so be sure to tune in to hear more!

Key Points From This Episode:

Evan’s diverse real estate background, where he’s based, and what he’s involved in.
Learn more about modular housing and Evan's involvement with it.
The hurdles with financing modular housing and how developers overcome it.
What effects Evan thinks modular style development will have on the construction industry.
Why you need to start the modular process before site work and workarounds.
Evan’s current projects with affordable workforce housing and financing them.
How Holladay Ventures ensures their homes remain affordable long-term.
The interesting opportunities that are on the horizon with affordable workforce housing.
Learn more about what’s happening on the ground with developments.
How Evan thinks this crisis will affect development projects.
Opportunity zones and affordable housing: A deal Evan did and some of the drawbacks.
Tax credits structure, tax credit development, and how Holladay Ventures utilizes it.
How acquisitions supplement taxable income at Holladay Ventures.
The importance of patience when being involved in affordable housing.

Tweetables:

“This is housing for the backbone of the community, for those making $30,000-$70,000 a year who make our economy run and make it what it is today and yet are getting pushed out because no-one is providing housing for them.” — @EvanHolladay [0:05:30]

“How can take housing and make it into a positive impact on the community while also making great returns for our investors and having lasting impacts on the residents and the communities?” — @EvanHolladay [0:06:45]

“Anybody that’s in apartments, anybody that’s in multifamily investing, anybody that’s owning rental property right now is for the next five to 10 years is going to be in a great position. Because exactly what happened in ‘08, you had this massive group of millennials ready to purchase their first home that just got their entire life savings wiped out, and we just had it again.” — @EvanHolladay [0:23:27]

“I’d love to help you get into it, but you have to make sure you have patience and you’re passionate about it and you’re willing to invest five years into this at least.” — @EvanHolladay [0:36:20]