Lawlor Joins Jones Walker

Brian E. Lawlor, former New Orleans and New York housing official, has joined the affordable housing team at the Jones Walker law firm.

B. Lawlor

B. Lawlor

He will be special counsel in the New York and New Orleans offices.

Lawlor recently served as director of housing policy and community development for the city of New Orleans, where he was integral in returning the Housing Authority of New Orleans to local control. He also led several initiatives that allowed more than 850 low- and moderate-income families to purchase their first homes.

Lawlor also served as commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, president and CEO of the New York State Housing Finance Agency, and president and CEO of the State of New York Mortgage Agency.

He has a law degree from New York Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University.

“We are excited to have Brian join our affordable housing group,” said Rick Lazio, head of Jones Walker’s New York office and leader of the firm’s affordable housing team. “With his addition, we continue our development of a key practice with deep regulatory, legal, and administrative experience at the federal, state, and local levels in affordable housing.

Peters Named Red Capital’s Head of Affordable Housing

Tracy Peters has been named head of affordable housing for Red Capital Group.

T. Peters
T. Peters

He has been with the firm for more than 20 years and has extensive affordable housing experience, including numerous years working in structured bond underwriting and placement issues for apartment developments enhanced primarily with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance/Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities or Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities.

Peters has served as the lead banker on Sec. 236, Sec. 202, and Mark-to-Market refinance transactions. He was recently named vice president on the Ohio Housing Council Board of Trustees.

“With his years of industry expertise, Tracy has played an integral part in Red’s success in the Affordable space,” stated Mike Moran, CEO of Red Capital Group. “He has not only worked on and helped develop favorable financing structures for our clients but also has exemplified what it means to have a strong working relationship with and serve our clients.”

New Moves at Friedman

Bruce Madnick, who had been managing partner for more than 25 years, has been appointed CEO of Friedman, a regional accounting, tax, and advisory firm.

Frederick Berk and Harriet Greenberg have become co-managing partners. Jeff Agranoff has been named COO.

While serving as managing partner, Madnick led Friedman's expansion to eight locations and 350 employees. During his tenure, Friedman became a Top 50 national accounting firm and one of the largest and most respected firms in the New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia metropolitan area. Madnick will continue to guide the firm and support the management responsibilities of Greenberg and Berk.

Friedman also announced that Diane Gitto, Jerald Jacobik, Seth Marin, and Justin Van Fleet have been promoted to partner.

Hunt Expands FHA Platform

Cary Brownley has joined Hunt Mortgage Group as director to help expand the commercial real estate lender’s FHA lending platform. She will be based in the firm’s Tysons Corner, Va., office and will lead FHA multifamily and health-care loan closings for the company.

Brownley joins Hunt from Wells Fargo, where she was responsible for all aspects of FHA loan closings related to the issuance of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities. Prior to that, she was with Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage.

She is the sixth recent hire by Hunt as part of the firm’s FHA platform expansion.

GLCF Announces SVP for Business Development

Fred Hash has been promoted to senior vice president of business development at Great Lakes Capital Fund (GLCF).

F. Hash
F. Hash

Hash has led business development for GLCF for the past 15 years and has worked in the community development industry for more than 30 years. Previously, he served as vice president and director of business development.

He also recently led partners from public and private sectors in the development of the award-winning Lincoln Apartments, a permanent supportive housing development for formerly homeless veterans in Indianapolis.

Moving forward, Hash will have an increased role in selling GLCF’s products to development partners in Indiana and Illinois. Additionally, he will work closely with the capital raising division, not only to continue to market and raise capital for the Indiana Community Funds but to capitalize on his relationships to assist in raising capital in other areas.

He had been president of Indiana Capital Fund for Housing before it merged with Michigan Capital Fund for Housing in 2003 to form Great Lakes Capital Fund. Earlier in his career, Hash served as the community investment officer for 10 years at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis.

The Habitat Co. Names President

Matt Fiascone has been promoted to president of The Habitat Co., a leading property manager and developer headquartered in Chicago. The firm’s work includes offering an array of affordable housing.

For the past three years, Fiascone served as senior vice president of finance and investment.

Since joining Habitat in 2011, he has been instrumental in strategizing, executing, and managing more than $500 million of capital events. His work has included $140 million in development with joint venture equity, $160 million recapitalization of existing venture, and identifying new capital partners. He has led the negotiation and structured the acquisition of 1,200 apartment units, worth $115 million in new markets, which has allowed Habitat to increase its footprint. In addition, Fiascone refinanced more than $150 million in portfolio assets with the government-sponsored enterprises, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and bank debt.

Founded in 1971, The Habitat Co. is a full-service real estate company with more than 750 employees operating in metropolitan areas throughout the country.

California Housing Partnership Adds to Team

David Dologite and Deanna Bligh have joined the California Housing Partnership.

Dologite has become a senior housing finance consultant in the Partnership’s San Francisco office. He has spent 14 years in the field assembling more than $195 million to finance the development of more than 1,100 units of affordable housing and 150,000 square feet of community-serving retail, office, civic, and health-care space.

Most recently, Dologite served as director of real estate with Capitol Hill Housing in Seattle, where he oversaw all of the organization's real estate development activities as well as neighborhood environmental sustainability programs. Prior to his work in Seattle, he worked as a senior project manager for Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. and East Bay Asian Local Development Corp.

Bligh is a housing finance consultant in the Los Angeles office. She joins the  Partnership having spent more than 10 years in multiple capacities of affordable housing finance and development.

Most recently, she developed affordable homes as a senior project manager at A Community of Friends, where she managed the financing and development of permanent supportive homes for special-needs populations using housing tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, and various federal, state, and local financing programs. Throughout her career, Bligh has assembled $150 million to finance the development of 1,300 affordable homes. She has extensive experience using project-based operating subsidies, including Sec. 8 and Shelter Plus Care.

Berkeley Point Expands Seniors Housing Team

Casey Moore has joined Berkeley Point Capital as director of seniors housing. He will work out of the Boston office.

Moore has 25 years of commercial lending experience, with 22 focused on seniors and long-term care investments. He recently served with Prudential Mortgage Capital as principal and Red Capital Group as senior managing director of seniors housing and long-term care.