Scott A. Marks, P.C.

Partner

  • Scott A. Marks, P.C.
  • Phone: +1 512 277 2268

    Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    Terrace 7
    2801 Via Fortuna, Suite 200
    Austin, TX 78746-7567
    USA

Scott A. Marks, P.C. represents real estate developers, including for-profits, nonprofits and government agencies. He closes real estate financing and affordable housing finance sources such as low-income housing tax credit equity financed with 4% and 9% credits, gap financing through various governmental grant and loan programs, HUD and conventional construction and permanent loans.

Scott previously served as general counsel of a real estate development company and is very experienced in negotiating AIA agreements such as construction contracts, drafting purchase and sale agreements and other real estate contracts, and negotiating partnership agreements and loan documents. His experience as a developer allows him to understand and negotiate business and legal points, including financial projections that are often exhibits to partnership agreements and loan documents.

Scott's affordable housing experience includes qualifying properties for property tax exemptions through ground leases and ownership by nonprofit or governmental entities. His work includes negotiating construction contracts to generate sales tax exemptions for construction materials.

Scott advises clients on most HUD programs, including the 202 senior housing program, the 221(d)(4) and other HUD-insured loans, public housing, Section 8 tenant-based and project-based vouchers, and development subsidies such as HOME, HOME-ARP, State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, and CDBG. He also has extensive experience with the Fair Housing Act, both in overcoming NIMBY opposition to affordable housing and in advising owners on compliance in their rental housing policies and procedures.

Scott is a 1994 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.

Representative Matters

  • Represented Austin’s DMA Development Company and its affiliates in financing its construction of a 100-unit multifamily rental housing mixed-income apartment complex, Boulevard 61, in Houston, Texas. Project owner Houston DMA Housing III LLC entered into a ground lease as tenant with the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC), as landlord, to generate a 100% ad valorem property tax exemption; a TSAHC entity also served as a member of Houston DMA Housing III. Financing for the project includes equity contributions from RBC Community Investments, LLC in exchange for the 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, a National Housing Trust Fund construction and permanent loan from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, a HUD-insured 221(d)(4) senior loan, and a City of Houston construction and permanent loan. The apartments will house low-income and very-low-income families, and 25 will have rent subsidy through a Section 8 housing assistance payments contract with the Houston Housing Authority.

  • Served as developer's counsel for a new construction 9% low-income housing tax credit project. This included negotiations related to construction contracts and a partnership agreement with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

  • Served as developer's counsel in a multi-hundred million construction project, which included providing legal opinions covering Texas and District of Columbia law. The client's financing documents were reviewed, and resolutions authorizing the closing were drafted.

  • Represented real estate development company in a $32 million affordable housing construction project. The project included a ground lease with Harris County Housing Finance Corporation as ground lessor. 

  • Represented a subordinate lender in the new construction of apartments financed with 9% housing tax credits and a TDHCA HOME-ARP loan.

  • Represented the Houston Area Women's Center in a real estate transaction with the City of Houston, as lender, for the construction of new housing for survivors of domestic abuse.

  • Represented developer in demolition of the 55-year-old RBJ Tower for seniors in downtown Austin and new construction of 224 apartments; financing included construction loan from Chase Bank, a permanent loan from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and equity from the National Equity Fund.

  • Represented New Hope Housing and its affiliates in the financing for new construction of 180 apartments in Houston; financing included equity from the National Equity Fund and construction and apartment loans from Capital One.

  • Represented New Hope Housing in a $43 million financing for the Gray private activity bond and the 4% housing tax credit transaction in Houston, Texas.

  • Represented a for-profit developer of mixed-use, mixed income property in Austin’s North Loop neighborhood that led to the construction of 146 apartments, as well as community and office space, on land owned by Travis County; the property was financed with 9% housing tax credits, Austin Housing Finance Corporation gap financing, and Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs National Housing Trust Funds. A complex public-private partnership structured to generate a property tax exemption, the land was subleased by the developer and a condominium declaration was imposed upon the leasehold estate, requiring extensive negotiation of a recognition agreement to satisfy the Freddie Mac permanent lender.

  • Represented a non-profit developer in a public-private partnership with Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) to facilitate the acquisition and rehabilitation of 176 senior apartments in North Austin financed with private activity bonds and 4% housing tax credits. Because an affiliate of AHFC owned the property before the acquisition and rehab, related party tax rules required careful partnership agreement negotiation to preserve the business deal while respecting allocation constraints imposed by federal related party tax laws.

  • Represented a nonprofit developer in Houston that specializes in permanent supportive housing for the homeless in building more than 1,000 apartments financed with sources including the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) 9% housing tax credit and 4% housing tax credit, City of Houston funding, Federal Home Loan Bank grants, TDHCA multifamily direct loans, and conventional construction loans. Properties developed included a mixed-use property in Houston’s East End. Located on a rapid transit line near downtown Houston, the site includes 100 permanent supportive housing apartments as well as office space for the client financed with the Section 42 community service facility provision.

Admissions

  • Texas

Education

  • University of Texas School of Law, J.D., 1994
  • The Johns Hopkins University, B.S., 1990

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Partner, 2023-present
  • Coats Rose PC
    - Director, 2006-2023
  • DMA Development Company
    - General Counsel and Executive Vice President, 2001-2006
  • Daniel & Beshara
    - Associate, 2000-2001
  • U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development San Antonio Field Office
    - Community Builder, 1999-2000
  • Chicago Housing Authority
    - Yale Fellow, 1997-99
  • Skadden Fellow
    - Greater Miami Neighborhoods, 1995-96
    - Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights (DC), 1994-95

Professional Activities

  • Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP)
    - Member, Former Board Member
  • American Bar Association
    - Forum on Affordable Housing

Civic and Charitable Activities

  • Past Board Member of Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers
  • Served on Austin Independent School District Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee
  • Past Board Member of Preservation Austin
  • Past Board Member of Austin Tenants Council

Honors and Awards

  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2024

Selected Publications

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, “Public-private Partnerships Between For-Profit Developers and Housing Finance Agencies on Year 15 Transactions,” Texas Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies Annual Conference, October 2022