HAC Names Executive Director
David Lipsetz has been named executive director of the Housing Assistance Council (HAC).
He replaces Moises Loza, who is retiring Nov. 1 after more than 40 years at HAC. Founded in 1971, HAC is a national nonprofit and Community Development Financial Institution that helps build homes and communities across rural America. Lipsetz becomes only the fourth executive director to lead the organization.
He joins HAC after holding several senior positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), most recently as the associate administrator of USDA’s Rural Housing Service. He has also managed affordable housing programs in New York City and Oakland, Calif. Lipsetz was born and raised in Ohio, and began his career on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to former Michigan congressman John Dingell.
HAC provides technical assistance, financial products, and research and information services, with an emphasis on serving the poorest of the poor in the most rural places.
Minnesota Housing Partnership Appoints Leader
Anne Mavity has been named executive director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP).
She brings 30 years of experience in affordable housing, capacity building, and development. Mavity has worked on a congressional subcommittee on housing and provided technical assistance and underwriting at CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing). Most recently, she was director of new projects at Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, where she led development of several affordable housing projects in the Twin Cities.
Mavity takes over MHP from Chip Halbach, who retired after leading the organization for 30 years. Halbach started MHP in 1987 to create a statewide voice and support organization for affordable housing development.
AMCAL Adds to Team
Michael Winter has become senior director of preconstruction and predevelopment at the AMCAL Group of Companies. He will be responsible for all predevelopment and preconstruction operations at AMCAL’s development projects in California.
Winter joins the firm with extensive experience in real estate development. He previously served as senior vice president of development for Irvine Co.’s mixed-use multifamily development and construction projects throughout various California regional submarkets.He also served as the construction and development executive for several integrated national and regional firms, including SARES-REGIS Group and Civic Partners.
Sara Dabbs has been named senior project manager at AMCAL Multi-Housing, part of the AMCAL Group of Companies. In her new role, she will be part of the affordable housing development team and will be responsible for driving a number of signature projects in Southern California to completion, as well as being a key contributor to the strategic expansion of the company’s affordable housing footprint in the western states.
Dabbs has extensive affordable housing experience. She began her career a decade ago at the Los Angeles Housing Department, now known as the Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department (HCIDLA).
Most recently, Dabbs led a 14-person team as executive director of multifamily new construction finance programs at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to close on financing in excess of $900 million to build more than 11,000 affordable homes, including homeless and permanent supportive housing. Dabbs also spent several years underwriting and closing on financing for the rehabilitation of multifamily homes in New York City, including resiliency improvements and the rehabilitation of properties damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
AMCAL is a leading housing development companies developing quality multifamily rental residential properties throughout California and Texas, including affordable housing, luxury apartment housing, and student housing.
Jerald Brown has become senior director of preconstruction at AMTEX Development. He will be responsible for all predevelopment and preconstruction operations in Texas, with a special focus on preconstruction.
With more than 25 years of experience, Brown previously served as senior director of construction for Lennar’s multifamily projects, where he represented the company in its Texas region’s new efforts in the Austin, Dallas, and Houston submarkets.
Mutual Housing California Hires CEO
Roberto Jimenez will become CEO of Mutual Housing California, effective Jan. 2, 2018.
Jimenez comes to the organization from the Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. in Ventura, Calif., where he serves as real estate development director.
He brings a deep understanding of community development corporations and a passion for building opportunities for residents in multifamily housing. He served as executive director of Farmworker Housing Development Corp. in Woodburn, Ore., from 2005 to 2016. Jimenez then launched and was CEO of Evolve Workforce and Property Management, a nonprofit third-party property management organization with a focus on providing job training opportunities to manage affordable rental housing.
Jimenez’s selection by the board of directors follows a national search to find a successor to longtime CEO Rachel Iskow, who is leaving the organization after 24 years.
Founded in 1988, Mutual Housing California develops, operates, and advocates for sustainable rental housing for the region’s diverse households. A member of NeighborWorks America, Mutual Housing has more than 3,200 residents, nearly half of who are children.
Clark Schaefer Hackett Announces Affordable Housing Team Leader
Devesh Kamal will lead the affordable housing industry group at Clark Schaefer Hackett, a leading accounting and advisory firm.
Kamal concentrates his practice on the business needs of those who develop, finance, or otherwise support the affordable housing sector. He provides full-service accounting, auditing, and tax advisement to partnerships and nonprofit organizations that develop projects funded with low-income housing tax credits and Rural Development finance. He also works with the syndicators and investors who fund these projects, public housing agencies, and state finance agencies.
He was recently named the shareholder-in-charge of the firm’s Springfield, Ohio, office.
HUD Pacific Region Administrator Takes Office
Jimmy Stracner has been sworn in to serve as regional administrator, serving the four states in the HUD’s Pacific Region, which includes of Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada and the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
Stracner will serve as HUD’s liaison to state and local officials, members of Congress, private and nonprofit developers, stakeholders, and customers. He has worked on numerous advocacy and political campaigns in California and Nevada over the past decade. Prior to this appointment, he served as deputy political director for Marsy’s Law for All, a national advocacy campaign to assure equal rights for victims of crime. Last fall, Stracner served as communications director for the No on 2 campaign, which opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana in Nevada.
In 2015, Stracner joined the Ben Carson for President campaign as his Nevada state director and then the Trump for President campaign as the Western states political director. He lives in Las Vegas.
Cope Rejoins Hunt Mortgage
Suzanne Cope has rejoined the affordable housing/Federal Housing Administration (FHA) group at Hunt Mortgage Group as senior vice president. She is based in Denver.
Cope will originate and close affordable and FHA multifamily loans nationwide, with a primary focus on the Colorado area.
She was recently a senior vice president in the affordable multifamily division of Bellwether Enterprise. In her earlier role at Hunt Mortgage (then Centerline Capital Group), she was responsible for West Coast originations of all debt financing activities for affordable multifamily housing. She helped develop the firm’s affordable housing lending platform.
Earlier in her career, Cope was a senior account manager with Fannie Mae in Los Angeles for five years, where she managed and structured transactions for affordable and market-rate housing mortgage relationships.
DCHFA Names Vice President
Henry Jones has joined the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency as vice president, treasury operations. He is responsible for cash management, banking service, investments, and loan servicing.
Jones is an accomplished finance professional with nearly 30 years of experience in the areas of finance, transportation, and security. Most recently, he served as the manager of cash management at the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority.
