San Francisco Appoints Housing Official

Kate Hartley has been named director of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). She had been serving as interim director since last June, when former MOHCD director Olson Lee announced his retirement.

Kate Hartley
Kate Hartley

Prior to acting as interim director, Hartley served as the agency's deputy director, starting in 2014. Hartley has 25 years of housing experience, including time spent in nonprofit and for-profit development as well as in public service at the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, where she worked as a senior development specialist. She started her career in the field as a nonprofit developer, building affordable homes in the city’s Bayview and Western Addition neighborhoods.

The MOHCD is responsible for the creation, preservation, and protection of San Francisco’s affordable housing portfolio. The agency supports the economic and social development of San Francisco’s low-income communities and provides financing for development and rehabilitation projects. Along with partnering with market-rate and nonprofit developers to build and preserve affordable housing, MOHCD administers financing programs to assist homeowners and helps San Francisco residents become first-time homebuyers.

Regions First Sterling Names Vice President

Andrew Romero has joined Regions First Sterling’s originations group as vice president, relationship manager. He is based in Denver.

Andrew Romero
Andrew Romero

Romero will focus on sourcing and originating affordable housing transactions in the Western region of the United States. Previously, Romero was a principal at AERO Affordable Housing Solutions, where he was responsible for sourcing land and capital for development.

Prior to AERO, Romero spent 16 years at KeyBank, where he was a vice president and relationship manager in the Community Development Banking group and built expertise in low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), New Markets Tax Credit, and conventional debt structuring for affordable, mixed-income, and mixed-use projects. He also worked as a housing development officer at the Colorado Housing and Finance Agency.

Regions Affordable Housing is a national LIHTC fund syndication firm. Regions Bank is one of the nation’s largest participants in affordable housing finance through the LIHTC program and provides comprehensive real estate banking and capital management services to meet the debt and capital needs of developers and investors.

Dominium Adds to Team

Dominium, a leading apartment owner, developer, and manager, recently announced several new hires at its Plymouth, Minn., headquarters.

Dan O’Mara has been named director of architecture and is responsible for coordinating the design of properties with the development team, designing for the Dominium portfolio, and leading the architecture support staff. Previously, O’Mara was a lead architect and group manager at Krech Ojard & Associates.

Emily D’Urso has been hired as senior Yardi applications manager and is responsible for strategic planning to maximize efficiency of Yardi Voyager and related software applications, implementing and managing the implementation of new Yardi modules along with overseeing and growing Yardi-related services. Previously, D’Urso was the manager of Yardi support services at WinnResidential.

Gino Bianchi-Rossi has become an accounting coordinator and is responsible for corporate invoices, demand deposit accounts, and document management software. Previously, Bianchi-Rossi was a landscape foreman.

Tara Williams has joined the firm as senior financial reporting accountant and is primarily responsible for cash flow consolidation reporting and oversight of refinances and sales. Prior to joining Dominium, Williams was an associate accountant at BKD.

Lydia Reardon has been hired as a corporate analyst and is responsible for budgets, trusts, ownership distributions, and refinances. Previously, Reardon was a billing analyst for OneNeck IT Solutions.

Austin Peterson has also joined Dominium as a corporate analyst and will be responsible for personal finances, real estate-owned debt tracking, and lender sponsor review. Before joining Dominium, Peterson was an intern with The Opus Group.

Jake Hannan has been named a portfolio analyst and is responsible for portfolio analysis, financial statement review, market analysis, and cash flow projections. Prior to joining Dominium, Hannan was an intern at Draper and Kramer.

Chris Durand has joined the firm as a facility systems specialist and is responsible for assisting properties with repair, replacement, preventative maintenance programs, and recommendations in regard to building systems. Prior to joining the firm, Durand was the chief maintenance engineer for Hilton Hotels.

Dave Patel has been named a senior corporate analyst and is responsible for budgeting, metrics, bond portfolio management, and the supervision of analysts. Prior to joining Dominium, Patel was a senior financial analyst at UnitedHealthcare.

NACo Announces Communications Director

Fred Wong has been named director of communications at the National Association of Counties (NACo).

He joins NACo after having worked in the Obama administration. Wong previously was public engagement adviser at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Prior to this, he worked at the White House in the Presidential Personnel Office, managing appointments to President Barack Obama’s administration at federal agencies, boards, and commissions focused on domestic issues. Earlier, he served as a speechwriter for the secretary of Health and Human Services and in the public affairs office of the Corporation for National and Community Service.