What's the realistic path to deliver affordable units that pencil?

It almost always takes a stack, not a single source: LIHTC equity, soft debt from the jurisdiction, a density bonus to add market-rate units that cross-subsidize, and increasingly a conversion or land contribution to reset basis.

The single biggest lever, though, is time. Every month of entitlement delay is carrying cost that quietly kills affordable deals faster than market-rate ones, because the margins are thinner. Chase jurisdictions with a real by-right pathway — speed is a subsidy.