Developer Spotlight: Sharon Guest, Radiant Development Partners

Last year, LIIF closed a flexible predevelopment loan for Radiant Development Partners through the Growing Housing Developers (GHD) initiative, which is a $30 million initiative led by Wells Fargo and implemented by LIIF, Capital Impact Partners and Reinvestment Fund. The program provides capital, training and connections to support the long-term growth of housing developers working in and strengthening historically underserved communities. 

Led by Sharon Guest, Radiant Development Partners is an Atlanta-based affordable housing development firm with deep roots in the city. Sharon has worked in the affordable housing space for more than two decades, helping to finance and develop over 50 housing projects totaling nearly $850 million in investment. Her expertise spans a range of complex financing tools — Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), Tax Allocation Districts, Housing Opportunity Bonds, RAD conversions and more — and she has partnered with housing authorities, churches, nonprofits and lenders across the country.

Radiant is focused on building and preserving affordable housing in the Metro Atlanta region, serving city residents in need of stable, quality housing. Unfortunately, like many firms, securing operating capital remains a key challenge to scaling their work. “We’ve had success with securing lending capital, particularly from community development financial institutions (CDFIs) such as LIIF,” Sharon says. “But operating capital is still a hurdle. That’s where this loan has really helped, freeing up our internal resources and allowing us to move quickly and nimbly as projects evolve.”

LIIF’s GHD loan has proven especially valuable to Radiant’s pipeline in Atlanta, where demand for affordable housing is high and project timelines can shift unexpectedly. “This predevelopment line of credit has been critical,” Sharon notes. “It supported some of our more expensive predevelopment needs, and the flexibility of the product allowed us to pivot when one deal fell through and another came up.”

That ability to redirect capital and stay nimble has helped Radiant continue building momentum. With additional investment support, the firm has been able to allocate previously committed project funds toward operating costs — a major win for an emerging development platform looking to expand.

While affordable and equitable housing remains the heart of Radiant’s mission, the firm is expanding into new areas. “We’re looking at market-rate new construction, acquisition-rehab and even single-family housing,” Sharon says. “To keep growing and competing, we have to move faster than the standard LIHTC timeline allows.”

That vision aligns with the broader goals of GHD, which aims to support 27 development firms across the country in building at least 1,500 affordable homes over the next six years. In addition to flexible capital, participants receive access to a national learning cohort, grants for internal capacity building, and tailored mentorship opportunities.

LIIF is proud to support Radiant Development Partners and industry leaders such as Sharon Guest in building more inclusive housing ecosystems where developers with deep community ties are equipped with the tools, capital and flexibility they need to thrive.