Natura Architectural Consulting

06/08/2026

Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union." 📐✨ Today, we celebrate the 159th birthday of Frank Lloyd Wright, a visionary who completely redefined the relationship between architecture, nature, and humanity. Which of his iconic designs is your favorite? 🏛️🌿

05/27/2026

Multifamily owners and developers often spend money fixing accessibility problems that don’t legally exist — or miss the ones that do. NAC explains the four most common mistakes.

Confused about ADA, Section 504, and FHAA at multifamily properties? NAC breaks down four costly misconceptions — and what the law actually requires

05/18/2026

May is Affordable Housing Month — and we think it's worth taking a moment to talk about why this work matters. New post on the blog: the housing crisis, how LIHTC actually works, and why the technical side of every deal is more important than most people realize.

May is Affordable Housing Month. Learn why affordable housing matters, how LIHTC works, and the role technical due diligence plays in every deal.

05/12/2026

A LIHTC property that goes offline after a major weather event doesn't just face repair costs. It faces compliance risk, credit recapture exposure, and occupancy gaps that restricted rents can't absorb. Property Resilience Assessments under ASTM E3429-24 exist to surface those risks before closing. Here's what lenders and syndicators should know:

Property Resilience Assessments matter in LIHTC deals, what lenders and equity investors should require, and how it protects asset value.

05/07/2026

Two inspectors on a LIHTC deal — but they're not watching for the same things. The lender's inspector is asking whether draws match completed work. The investor's inspector cares about quality and cost too, but their biggest concern is whether you're on track to hit your milestones — because that's what drives equity pay-ins to the developer. Those are very different questions, with very different consequences when the answer isn't good. New post on the NAC blog breaks down both roles — including the growing trend of shared inspection reporting to help manage soft costs.

https://bit.ly/4utDC3E

Learn how construction loan monitoring and LIHTC equity investor monitoring differ — and why schedule matters the most.

04/27/2026

The AIA contract is sitting in almost every LIHTC closing package. Most lenders have a lawyer review it for legal risk. But unless you have a licensed architect reviewing it for construction risk, there are provisions in that contract that deserve more attention than they typically get.

Retainage terms. Change order provisions. Liquidated damages. Contractor termination rights. These aren't legal abstractions — they are the provisions that determine what happens when a project goes sideways on a LIHTC deal.

We just published a plain-language guide breaking down what every LIHTC lender should know about the AIA contract — and what an architect-led document and cost review catches that standard legal and financial review misses.

👉 https://bit.ly/4vWc8W0

A plain-language guide to AIA contract review for LIHTC lenders. Learn the provisions that create construction risk.

04/23/2026

A new ASTM standard was published in the fall of 2024 that every commercial real estate lender and investor should know about — ASTM E3429, the Standard Guide for Property Resilience Assessments.

A PRA evaluates a property's exposure to natural hazards — flood, wildfire, wind, extreme heat, and more — and how the property is likely to perform if those hazards occur. It's designed to accompany your Phase I ESA and Property Condition Assessment as part of a complete due diligence package.

Nobody is requiring them yet. But if the history of Phase I ESAs and PCAs tells us anything, that won't be the case for long.

We just published a plain-language guide explaining what ASTM E3429 is, who needs a PRA right now, and what it means specifically for LIHTC and affordable housing transactions.

👉https://bit.ly/48OFjjM

ASTM E3429 is the new standard for Property Resilience Assessments. Learn what a PRA covers, who needs one, and what it means for LIHTC.

04/18/2026

Attorneys handle title risk. Surveyors map the land. Neither one is asking whether the site actually works for what you're trying to build. New post on the five ALTA survey red flags we look for in every LIHTC due diligence engagement.

ALTA surveys reveal risks that attorneys and title commitments miss. Learn the red flags that cause problems in commercial real estate deals.

12/01/2025

Check out Nate's latest article for Retrofit magazine on this years Metamorphosis Award winner in the Historic Preservation category. The San Diego Balboa Park Botanical Building.

A local non-profit, Forever Balboa Park, secured an $8 million grant to commission initial bridging and program documents to define a vision for the Botanical Building’s future. The project was moving forward but was later turned over to the City of San Diego for the next phase and ex*****on.

01/15/2025

Our thoughts continue to be our family, friends, and clients in the Los Angeles area battling the wildfires. We are also sad to learn the fate of a modernist classic piece of architecture. The 1949 Freedman House by Richard Neutra has been lost in the fire. :(. We hope this gets under control soon. Praying for some luck and favorable weather for the fire fighters.

Structures designed by Richard Neutra and Ray Kappe are among the more than 12,000 structures lost in the ongoing fires in Los Angeles.