The NRP Group Announces New York VP
Nicholas O’Brien has joined The NRP Group to grow the company’s affordable housing pipeline in New York.
As vice president of affordable housing development, he will expand development efforts throughout state, focusing on Long Island, Westchester County, the Hudson Valley, and Upstate New York.
O’Brien will identify and evaluate new affordable housing development opportunities, support transaction structuring, and guide projects from early-stage feasibility through closing.
He previously worked at CREA, a low-income housing tax credit syndicator, where he served as an assistant vice president and focused on acquisitions and advisory work with developers. Earlier in his career, he was an associate at Northmarq Capital.
The NRP Group has identified New York as a priority market, with a growing portfolio in the state. A leading developer, builder, and manager of affordable and market-rate multifamily properties, the Ohio-based firm has developed more than 68,000 apartment homes and currently manages over 33,000 units across the country.
Ability Housing Appoints Chief of Strategy and Development
Paula Naugle Bides has been named chief of strategy and development at Ability Housing, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing across Florida.
She is responsible for driving organizational strategy, fund development, and partnership growth. Additionally, Bides will focus on enhancing operational efficiency, leading marketing and communications initiatives, and implementing new strategies that support Ability Housing’s mission and long-term growth.
Bides joins Ability Housing at a pivotal time for the organization as it pursues its goal of developing more than 2,200 affordable housing units across Florida by 2030.
She has spent nearly 20 years working in healthcare to improve access, strengthen community health, and address barriers to care, particularly for vulnerable and underserved populations. Her work has included developing programs that address food insecurity and women’s health, identifying and responding to community health needs, and building partnerships that connect people with healthcare and other critical resources.
Pennrose Announces Strategic Leadership Moves
Pennrose has reported several strategic leadership appointments.
Margot Elton-Ratliff has been promoted to chief operating officer. She will be responsible for leading the company’s core operating functions to drive strong performance across development, property management, resident services, and corporate operations. Elton-Ratliff will also provide executive leadership to several key departments, including transition management, marketing and communications, information technology, and community impact.
She joined Pennrose as an associate developer in 2016. She most recently served as vice president of operations, where she was instrumental in strengthening Pennrose Management Co. (PMC) and ensuring operational excellence across the enterprise, and as director of development operations, where she successfully expanded Pennrose’s development pipeline in alignment with the organization’s strategic plan.
Ivy Dench has been promoted to senior vice president, community revitalization and public partnerships. She will lead efforts to secure and preserve public funding, serve as a government relations liaison, and pursue creative asset repositioning with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and local stakeholders.
Dench began her career with the company in 1990 as a property manager, eventually rising through the ranks to regional vice president, where she oversaw Pennrose’s robust development pipeline in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Dench has delivered more than 30 developments and worked collaboratively with local housing authorities and public-sector partners to complete complex mixed-income, mixed-finance, and multi-phase redevelopment projects.
Adriana Guzzo has been promoted vice president of transition management and property marketing. Guzzo, who had been vice president of transition management, will take on an expanded role, overseeing property marketing functions across Pennrose’s managed portfolio.
Her new role includes providing strategic leadership for brand execution, leasing performance, applicant generation, digital presence, reputation management, and resident acquisition across the company’s footprint. The position will allow Guzzo to support leasing and marketing efforts across the entire life cycle of a property, serving as the primary bridge between development and property management to ensure communities are successfully planned, launched, leased, stabilized, and transitioned into long-term operations.
In addition, Chris Hart, former director of communications with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has joined Pennrose as vice president of marketing and communications.
Hart will lead enterprise-wide brand strategy, corporate communications, and integrated marketing initiatives to strengthen the company’s market presence. He will serve as a trusted brand adviser and help shape how Pennrose communicates its mission, values, growth, and community impact to key stakeholders. At the VA, Hart led public relations efforts across the department, acted as the primary patient care services spokesperson, and served as the senior communications adviser to the assistant undersecretary for health for patient care services and chief nursing officer. He has also held senior-level positions with the Department of State and the Department of Agriculture.
EBALDC Names EVP of Real Estate Development
Liz Probst has been promoted to executive vice president of real estate development at the East Bay Asian Local Development Corp. (EBALDC).
She brings 20 years of experience leading complex and high-profile public-private partnerships to her new role. Since joining EBALDC in 2015, she has grown the Oakland, California-based organization’s predevelopment and construction pipeline to nearly 2,000 units across more than 20 projects.
Her team is responsible for affordable housing, mixed-use, and transit-oriented developments, including phased master plans and ground leases with cities, counties, housing authorities, and transit agencies. Previously director of real estate development, Probst specializes in structuring complex real estate transactions and securing public and private financing in addition to the site acquisition, entitlement, design, and construction phases.
Beacon Communities Welcomes Associate General Counsel, Property Management
Addie Forster has joined Beacon Communities as associate general counsel, property management.
She will work closely with Beacon Residential Management and property management teams to provide legal guidance and strategic counsel on matters related to property operations, affordable housing compliance, litigation management, fair housing, vendor contracts, and other legal issues impacting Beacon's communities and residents.
Forster will provide practical, business-focused legal support for the ownership and management of Beacon's affordable, mixed-income, and commercial partners while helping the organization navigate an increasingly complex regulatory environment.
She brings more than a decade of legal experience, spanning multifamily housing, commercial real estate, compliance, risk management, and corporate operations. Previously, she served as an associate and staff attorney at Berkshire Residential Investments, where she worked directly with property operations and asset management teams. During her tenure, she helped support the growth of a nationwide multifamily housing portfolio, collaborating with on-site teams to develop scalable legal guidance and processes that improved operational consistency across the organization.