Travois Announces New Hires
Six professionals have joined the architectural and affordable housing teams at Travois, a firm that has directed more than $1.5 billion of investment in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.
Rebecca Riden, senior architect, manages and provides architectural services to affordable housing and economic development projects in Native communities. She compiles research, coordinates drawings and specifications sets, creates construction budgets, and manages the construction process. Riden is a licensed architect registered with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP).
Kristin Holtgrew, architect II, designs culturally appropriate and energy-efficient homes and buildings in Native communities. She guides clients through the design and construction process to maximize strict budgets and meet funding requirements. She is a licensed architect registered with the NCARB and a LEED AP.
Chelsea Larson, architect I, assists tribal clients through the design and construction process, including budgeting, research and planning, design development, coordination of final drawings and specifications sets, and regular construction oversight. She is a licensed architect registered with the NCARB and a member of the AIA.
Maria Comerford, architectural designer, assists the architectural team in all phases of the design process. She drafts preliminary design documents, creates 3D renderings and detailed construction document sets, prepares specifications and project manuals, and helps with project bidding and value engineering.
Meaghan Pasbrig, project manager, works with tribes and tribal housing authorities to turn affordable housing projects into competitive applications for low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and other funding opportunities.
Abby Day, project manager, works with tribal clients to prepare, review, and submit LIHTC applications for affordable housing projects. She guides clients through subsequent development phases: carryover, closing with an equity investor, and helping to gather due diligence items at each milestone. She also advocates for changes to qualified allocation plans to ensure that tribally sponsored projects can compete evenly with other projects in each state.
Since 1995, Travois has brought investor equity to more than 230 developments through the LIHTC and New Markets Tax Credit programs.
Archway Communities Adds to Team
Archway Communities, a nonprofit affordable housing developer and service provider based in Lakewood, Colorado, has announced three new members to its organization.
Sarah Blanchard, housing development manager, joins Archway after serving as senior consultant at S.B. Clark Cos., where she assisted clients with financial feasibility, LIHTC applications, the selection of financing partners, and closing LIHTC transactions. Earlier in her career, Blanchard worked at the Colorado Division of Housing, where she underwrote applications for gap financing for affordable housing projects and provided technical assistance to developers across the state. Her experience also includes working in the housing practice at BBC Research and Consulting and assisted in the development of housing market and fair housing studies. She spent three years as a senior policy advisor for housing at the Province of Ontario in Toronto, her hometown.
Michael Reis, senior development manager, is a longtime advocate of expanding affordable housing opportunities in Colorado. He has held senior positions at Thistle Communities, Longmont Housing Authority/Longmont Housing Development Corp., and Boulder County Housing Authority. He has successfully closed eight separate LIHTC transactions resulting in over 400 units. Reis has also placed in service over 300 affordable units utilizing funding sources other than the LIHTC program.
Chip Madeley, construction manager, has 22 years of experience delivering single-family and multifamily projects across Colorado, including several LIHTC projects. He began his career as a carpenter during college and worked his way up to construction manager for Archway Communities. During his career, he has worked for some of Colorado’s preeminent multifamily general contractors. He has successfully planned and managed large scopes of work, demanding schedules, and large project budgets, beginning at preconstruction and managing them throughout their lifecycle.
BGC Advantage Announces Promotion
Ashley Wilson has been promoted to chief financial officer at BGC Advantage, where she will maintain strategic oversight of a combined $460 million-plus in budget and total development cost for the firm’s stabilized and pipeline projects under construction.
In this new role, Wilson will be a member of the executive management team, providing financial analysis, strategic planning, and risk management evaluations for each housing development in the company’s expanding portfolio—from predevelopment through lease-up and conversion to asset management.
Holly Knight, president and CEO of BGC Advantage, noted that since the launch of the company in 2017 Wilson’s 15 years of robust finance experience, including 10 years in affordable housing, has been integral to the strength and stability of the portfolio and will continue to ensure the growth of the organization.
Wilson joined Ruston, Louisiana-based BGC Advantage after consulting with Knight and discovering a shared mission. Wilson joined the firm from Little & Associates, where she served as manager of the affordable housing group.
Cinnaire Names VP of Community Development
Sherita Smith has been appointed vice president, community development, at Cinnaire. She will be taking the helm implementing Cinnaire’s targeted investment strategy for Detroit and establishing and maintaining relationships with local partners and funders to advance the firm’s Priority City initiatives.
Most recently, she served as executive director at Grandmont Rosedale Development Corp., a nonprofit, community-based organization dedicated to preserving and revitalizing the Grandmont Rosedale communities of northwest Detroit. Under her leadership, the organization stabilized its finances with multiyear funding commitments.
She is a member of Community Development Advocates of Detroit, Community and Economic Development Association of Michigan, Michigan Nonprofit Association, National Main Street Coalition, Detroit Community Education Commission, and Detroit Residents Fund, as well as co-founder of the Detroit Church.
NEF Announces Hires
Daryl Shore, managing director of structured finance, and Stephanie Dufresne, managing director of strategic communications, have recently joined National Equity Fund (NEF).
Shore is responsible for NEF’s national lending platform regarding products and investors. Before NEF, he worked at Prudential Financial in impact investments and then served as vice president of inclusive communities. During his tenure, he helped to structure and close Prudential’s first Opportunity Zone investment. He previously worked at JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) as a vice president in business banking and community development, global philanthropy. Shore works out of NEF’s New York office.
Dufresne leads NEF’s marketing efforts in addition to internal and external communications. She is also responsible for media relations and brand management. Prior to joining NEF, Dufresne spent the last 15 years working in communications and marketing at JPMC, and most recently served as an executive director, senior communications manager in global technology. Prior to that, she was the head of communications, training, and culture for JPMC’s firmwide data management organization and served as the executive communications lead for the former JPMC CEO of consumer and community banking and as chief of staff for the former JPMC CEO of commercial banking. Dufresne is based in NEF’s Chicago office.
DCHFA Names Chief of Staff
Nikol Nabors-Jackson has been appointed chief of staff at the D.C. Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA). In this role, she serves as the senior advisor to the executive director/CEO by assisting in the development and implementation of the agency’s strategic and business plan. Nabors-Jackson also will play a key role in promoting internal and external collaborative communication to promote the agency’s mission and values.
Prior to joining DCHFA, Nabors-Jackson was the deputy director for administration at the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, where she was responsible for administrative support, business services, contracting, human resources, and information technology. Nabors-Jackson previously worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and served as a senior advisor in the Office of Public and Indian Housing. She also served as chief of staff at the Housing Authority of Baltimore City and held multiple positions at the D.C. Housing Authority.
WNC Welcomes Asset Management Veteran
Sarah Arnold has been appointed vice president, asset management, at WNC, a leading affordable housing investor, asset manager, and provider of development services.
She joins WNC from Wentwood Capital Advisors, where she spent approximately 13 years as vice president of asset management, focused on LIHTC properties. In this role, she was responsible for the oversight of approximately 70 housing credit communities, including capital transactions and property-partnership restructurings. Previously, Arnold spent time as a commercial real estate appraiser at C.L. McDade & Co.
Merchants Capital Expands
Financial services company Merchants Capital has expanded its tax credit equity team with two senior hires in the acquisitions and underwriting divisions.
Laurie DiBona joins as vice president of acquisitions in Boston. She will manage relationships with top affordable housing developers, negotiating and structuring lower-tier partnership agreements. DiBona previously spent 12 years in the equity acquisitions and asset management divisions at Boston Capital and R4 Capital.
Lisa Zebro joins as vice president and deputy chief equity underwriter in New York. She was previously a manager in Ernst & Young’s tax credit equity division, where she spent 13 years opining on real estate underwriting, transaction structure, tax risk, and feasibility for investments in tax credit funds sponsored by the nation’s largest tax credit syndicators. Zebro is responsible for underwriting lower-tier and upper-tier investments in tax credit equity funds sponsored by Merchants Capital.
M&T Realty Capital Corp. Announces Managing Director
Donna Falzarano has been named a managing director in M&T Realty Capital Corp.’s (MTRCC’s) Florham Park, New Jersey, office.
She joins the firm’s life company and agency platform and will be responsible for originating commercial and multifamily loans across the United States with a variety of capital sources. MTRCC is a Fannie Mae DUS lender, a Freddie Mac Optigo lender, and an approved FHA/HUD MAP and LEAN lender; it also offers life insurance company and CMBS financing through correspondent relationships.
Falzarano is an industry veteran with expertise in long-term permanent financing, agency and structured financing for value-add and opportunistic scenarios. She joins MTRCC from CBRE, where she was a first vice president.
She is the recipient of the 2021 GlobeSt Elite Women of Influence Award in the Debt & Equity Finance category. She is also an active member of CREW New Jersey and Mortgage Bankers Association’s mPower women’s networking group.
Bright Power Adds Executives
Philip Luccarelli has been named chief operating officer of Bright Power, a firm that provides strategic energy and water solutions to building owners and operators across the nation. He was the chief operating officer at Lime Energy, where he drove improvements in growth and profitability while improving the customer experience. Before Lime, Luccarelli held leadership roles at Altice USA / Cablevision, and HomeServe USA.
Andrew Ulmer has joined Bright Power as executive vice president of growth and strategy after a decade consulting with a number of startups and Fortune 500 companies on strategic initiatives to enhance technology utilization, drive business development, and improve both products and processes. His past experience includes business development and strategy roles with WaterSmart Software, Capella Space, and eMeter. At Bright Power, he is spearheading the company’s collaboration with Ivy Energy to increase net operating income for California multifamily owners.
Marble Cliff Capital Grows Team
Jesse Curll has been named senior vice president of asset management and special projects at Marble Cliff Capital (MCC). Curll was hired to establish the asset management platform for MCC’s tax credit investment portfolio and lead tax credit investment closings.
Curll was recently president of Oliver Capital Efficiency, a consulting firm specializing in affordable housing asset management, LIHTC syndication underwriting, public housing Rental Assistance Demonstration conversions, and nonprofit restructurings. Curll has collaborated on over $1 billion in real estate capital transactions and has managed market-rate, senior, and affordable housing communities since 1999.
Earlier, he developed the asset management function for HallKeen Management, an affordable housing development and property management company, and has held roles at another large national affordable housing developer and syndicator.
Nixon Peabody Adds Partner
Laura Sugarman has joined the Nixon Peabody law firm as a partner in the firm’s affordable housing and real estate group. She will be a key member of the firm’s growing cooperatives and condominiums team in New York City.
Sugarman represents developers, lenders, landlords, and investors in a broad range of commercial real estate transactions. This includes cooperative and condominium conversions, developments, real estate finance, and the acquisitions and sales of commercial, mixed-use, and hospitality properties, both in New York and globally. She also works with high net-worth individuals in the sales and acquisitions of residential apartments in New York City, in addition to representing nonprofit organizations in the sale and financing of assets, commercial leasing, and land use matters.
