LIHTC Pipeline · State Module IA
Every Iowa LIHTC project in HUD’s national database (placed in service 1987–2023), joined with Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) award and application records for the 2022–2026 9% rounds and IFA’s 4% award lists. Award, applicant and credit figures come from IFA documents and are not estimated. Two figures are estimates and are labelled estimate with their assumptions: equity raised and implied development cost per unit.
Applications versus awards in each IFA 9% round. In 2022–2025, 35–42% of applications won. The 2026 round awarded 63% (10 of 16), including 1 award from the waiting list on July 1, 2026 after a previously awarded project withdrew; it also drew the fewest applications of any tracked round.
Share of applications in each set-aside pool that received an award, 2022–2026. Pools overlap: an application can request several set-asides, so the 114 applications make 126 pool entries (11 applications requested two or more pools). “Received an award” counts all 53 applications IFA ever awarded, including 6 awards later returned, declined or withdrawn; 47 awards are held. Innovation is a pitch competition: IFA narrows entrants to 3–4 finalists who present at the Iowa Housing Conference and one project wins per round, so it is drawn as an outline with no comparable rate.
Every scored application 2023–2026 (about a 55-point QAP; 2022 used a ~130-point scale and is left out; 1 application scoring below 44 omitted for scale). Winners and losers occupy the same scores — community and developer caps, tiebreakers and the credits left at the end of the waterfall decide the margin. Hover a dot for the project and, where IFA stated one, the reason.
Annual federal credit per unit for every 9% award held, 2022–2026; a later supplemental award is added to its project. Each dot is one project and the dark tick is the round’s median, which moved from $23.7k in 2022 to $35.4k in 2026. Hover any dot for the project.
Housing units placed in service in Iowa per year, coloured by credit type on HUD’s record. Credit-type coding is sparse before 1995 (shown as “not recorded”). HUD’s April 2026 release runs through 2024 placements nationally, but its latest Iowa placement is 2023.
Developers ranked by annual 9% credits held across the 2022–2026 rounds: the top 10 rows of the same table as “Who you’re bidding against” below. A joint-venture award counts in full for each named partner, so the bars add up to more than the $49.2M awarded.
Cities with the most LIHTC projects on the HUD record (placed in service 1987–2023).
Every HUD-recorded Iowa project with coordinates (738) plus 53 IFA 9% and 4% awards not yet in HUD’s file (open rings, placed from the address IFA published), over the 81 census tracts HUD designated as 2027 Qualified Census Tracts (30% basis boost, shaded). 28.0% of the HUD-recorded projects sit in a 2027 QCT. Scroll or use + and − to zoom, drag to pan, and click any point for project details.
Shaded tracts: HUD 2027 QCT/DDA designations (Federal Register 2026-20390, Oct 6 2026; effective Jan 1 2027), on 2020 census-tract geometry (Census TIGER). Vintage note: HUD flags each project’s QCT status against the map in force when it was placed (1990/2000/2010 tract vintages); the shading shows the 2027 designation — the map a new deal is sited against — and each project’s callout shows both. 4 recent IFA awards are re-awards of properties already in HUD’s file and appear at that record; 7 older IFA 4% awards are matched to their own HUD record; 14 awards could not be placed (no published street address or no geocoder match). All IFA awards are listed in the table below.
Developer intelligence — competition, feasibility & the 2027 meta-game
The 60% AMI rent cap sits above the median market 2-bedroom rent in all 99 Iowa counties, so the cap never binds — local market rent sets your revenue. Market 2BR rent runs from $629 (Audubon) to $1,382 (Dallas); deep-rural counties can’t support much debt and lean on soft money. Bars show the 8 highest- and 8 lowest-rent counties; hover for the cap gap.
Sources: market rent = ACS 2020–2024 5-year median gross rent, 2-bedroom units (table B25031), by county. 60% AMI cap = HUD FY2026 income limits (effective May 1 2026): 1.2 × the 50% (very low income) limit for a 3-person household × 30% ÷ 12, a gross rent that includes utilities. Uses HUD’s Section 8 limits, not the MTSP limits, which can be higher in hold-harmless counties.
Recurring 9% competitors, 2022–2026, from the same firm table as the chart above. “Won” counts every application IFA awarded, including awards later returned; credits are those still held. “Capped” means the firm was blocked by IFA’s Community or Developer Cap in 2024–2026 and is likely limited in the next round — so the uncapped high-win firms (Community Housing Initiatives, MCC Development of Iowa) are the ones most able to crowd your set-aside.
Scored categories IFA added or dropped between the 2023 and 2026 scoring breakdowns (affordability, location and market appeal). Added items show the QAP maximum; renamed or merged items are not listed.
Iowa LIHTC projects reaching a milestone in 2026–2032: Year 15 = placed-in-service year + 15, when the federal compliance period ends (resyndication and acquisition-rehab window); Year 30 = placed-in-service year + 30, when the minimum extended-use period ends (preservation risk). 298 projects, 12,919 low-income units. Milestones are approximate: the compliance period starts with the first credit year, which can be the year after placement.
The 4% / bond side
Iowa’s 4% credits ride on tax-exempt private activity bonds, so the binding limit is bond volume cap, not credit authority. Through the 2025 First Amended QAP, IFA took 4% applications on a rolling, threshold-only basis. In November 2024 it announced a move to competitive allocation in response to growing demand for private activity bonds; the first scored and ranked round awarded 5 projects on Dec 3, 2025, after applicants sought about $125M of bonds against $90M available. IFA’s 4% award lists show 4,312 units and $35.3M a year in credits across 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025.
Applications filed Aug 5, 2026 ask for $104.5M of tax-exempt bonds and $14.16M a year in 4% credits for 1,080 units, against about $90M of volume cap IFA expects to have. Scores are not yet published; IFA's Board acts on reservations Nov 4, 2026.
| Project | City | Units | Credits requested | Bonds requested | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Wilmac | Dubuque | 112 | $1,879,505 | $15,600,000 | Hoppe & Son, LLC |
| Crescent Heights Apartment Homes | Council Bluffs | 240 | $3,527,006 | $25,000,000 | Pedcor Development Associates, LLC |
| Cornerstone Apartments at Power Drive | Council Bluffs | 210 | $2,939,482 | $20,400,000 | Cornerstone Housing Group, LLC |
| Rath FIFTEEN15 | Waterloo | 87 | $1,348,334 | $8,700,000 | 1515 Sycamore MM LLC, Newbury Management Company |
| Central at 8th | West Des Moines | 156 | $2,314,357 | $16,923,392 | Union Development Holdings III, LLC |
| Windmill Park Portfolio | Sioux City | 275 | $2,148,490 | $17,870,000 | Steele Properties V LLC |
| Total | 1,080 | $14,157,174 | $104,493,392 |
Federal change. P.L. 119-21 §70422 (July 4, 2025) permanently raised every state’s 9% credit ceiling by 12% from 2026, and for buildings placed in service in tax years after 2025 lets a project qualify for 4% credits with 25% (instead of 50%) of basis financed by volume-cap bonds, if at least one bond issue is dated after 2025. IFA paired this with a per-project limit of the lesser of 35% of basis or $25M, so the same cap reaches more projects.
Sources: IFA 4% award lists (historical list; 2025 list re-posted June 25, 2026), 2025 4% Rankmaster (Dec 3, 2025), 2026 4% Applicant Listing (Aug 13, 2026), 2026 bond inducement list ($141.3M induced), IFA 4% QAPs 2022–2027 and board materials; P.L. 119-21 §70422. Southridge Flats ($2,972,861 awarded Dec 3, 2025) is not on the June 2026 re-posted award list, so it is not counted above; IFA has not said why.