As senior director of capital markets at Standard Communities, Jessica Mackenzie assembles the critical financing pieces for the firm’s affordable housing deals across the country.
She’s led more than $1 billion of property acquisitions and recapitalizations since joining Standard Communities in 2019, with roughly $500 million in deals last year alone.
Mackenzie knew she wanted to work in affordable housing soon after being introduced to the unique asset class.
“I love the puzzle of putting together the financing and the nexus with policy and the built environment,” she says. “I like that it requires a bit of a Renaissance person, touching all these different areas other than finance to get the job done. I find it very meaningful.”
Earlier in her career, Mackenzie served as a director in the community development finance group at Union Bank. From there, she decided to move to the sponsor side of the deals and joined Standard Communities, a leading developer with about 13,000 affordable housing units under ownership.
The firm recently closed on the recapitalization of the 148-unit Lake Park Crescent property in Chicago. The complicated deal utilized the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program and other funding sources so it can be rehabilitated and positioned for future success.
Beyond coming up with debt and equity solutions for individual projects, Mackenzie, 39, shares her expertise and enthusiasm for her work by mentoring many co-workers and others in the industry. She’s also part of the Standard Communities team that’s active in Project Destined, a training platform for college students to learn about real estate.
The mother of two children, Mackenzie is based in Los Angeles.
