Approximately one year ago, we authored “An Introduction to NYC’s Accelerator PACE Financing Program,” regarding New York City’s Local Law 97 (FN1: LL97, 2019 N.Y.C. Local Law No. 97, N.Y.C. Admin. Code. Section 28.320) (LL97) and the Accelerator PACE Financing Program (the Accelerator Program) established through Local Law 96 (LL96). Since that time, the Accelerator Program’s core documents have been updated to include specificity around retroactively eligible loans, the expansion of loan transfer provisions and clarifications regarding PACE lender certification requirements. (FN2: See generally New York City Accelerator PACE Financing Program Guidelines [Sept. 28, 2022] [version 2.2]). Although the initial compliance period under LL97 is less than 6 months away, the authors are unaware of loans having closed under the Accelerator Program during the past year. This article sets forth some of the Accelerator Program’s challenges and how certain proposed changes to its rules may improve upon its accessibility for LL97 compliance.

With approximately 60,000 buildings in New York City subjected to LL97 compliance and the relatively low interest rate of PACE loans (generally around 6% to 7%), New York City should be an active market for PACE financing; yet, there is an absence of PACE financing in New York City whereas in other states, such as California and Texas, PACE financing has been utilized with much greater pace (pun intended) and frequency. (FN3: PACE Market Data (pacenation.org)).