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AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE • January/February 2010

BY AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE STAFF

New Director Takes Over IFA

J. O'Hern

Joe O’Hern has been named director of the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA).

He replaces Bret Mills, who was recently picked by Gov. Chet Culver to lead the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).

O’Hern recently served as interim deputy director of IDED and as deputy director of IFA.

Gov. Culver also announced that as part of his efforts to streamline state government, the HOME program would move from IDED to IFA, which is the state’s lead housing agency. The transfer of the HOME program is scheduled for the spring. The move will consolidate key housing resources in one agency.

Enterprise Adds New Executives

Adrienne Quinn, former director of the Seattle Office of Housing, and M.A. Leonard, who has worked with community development organizations in Oregon and Washington, have joined Enterprise Community Partners.

Quinn, who held the Seattle post for five years, has been named vice president for public policy and government relations for the national housing organization.

“After passage of the housing levy, it was a good opportunity for some refl ection,” said Quinn in a statement. “I decided that now was an important time to spend more time with my elderly parents who live on the East Coast, as well as work on housing policy in D.C. given the opportunities created by the Obama administration. I am looking forward to working with Mayor [Mike] McGinn and his administration on housing and sustainability issues from my new position in the other Washington.”

Seattle voters recently passed a $145 million housing levy in November. The city also has a new mayor, with McGinn recently winning election.

Leonard is Enterprise’s vice president and impact market leader for the Pacific Northwest.

She has worked as an independent consultant providing strategic assistance to community development organizations on their work with affordable housing development. Prior to that, she was regional vice president with the National Equity Fund, Inc.

Union Bank Names Community Development Head

A. Billingsley

Senior Vice President Annette Billingsley will head the community development finance division at Union Bank.

A longtime executive at the bank, she will oversee the bank’s debt and equity investments in affordable housing across the United States, which total more than $2 billion.

Billingsley replaces Jim Francis, who co-founded the group in 1995. Francis has been promoted to lead the bank’s consumer asset management division.

In the next year, she plans to expand the division’s footprint in the Pacific Northwest while continuing to serve its largest markets in Northern and Southern California. The division will focus on financing high-quality affordable housing in areas with signifi cant need, with an emphasis on developments that are environmentally sustainable and promote smart growth.

For the past 14 years, she has overseen national real estate lending at Union Bank.

HFA Executive Joins Michaels

Eileen Hawes has been named vice president of finance for The Michaels Organization, a full-service residential real estate firm.

She joins the firm from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, where she was most recently CFO, overseeing all fiscal operations and directing all phases of the agency’s bond financings.

Headquartered in Marlton, N.J., The Michaels Organization is made up of six integrated real estate companies, including Michaels Development Co., Interstate Realty Management Co., and Michaels Military Housing.

Guthrie Heads to L.A.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has picked Doug Guthrie to be general manager of the housing department.

Guthrie has extensive experience in affordable housing, most recently serving as president of Kimball Hill Urban Centers in Chicago, where he built mixed-income and mixed-use projects in challenged urban communities.

Kimball Hill Urban was a subsidiary of Kimball Hill Homes, which filed for bankruptcy and shut down in 2008.

Guthrie has also held posts at the National Equity Fund, Chicago Housing Authority, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

L.A.’s former housing chief Mercedes Marquez left to become HUD’s assistant secretary for community planning and development.