Industry Veteran Will Eckstein Joins Pennrose
Will Eckstein has been named Southeast regional vice president at Pennrose, a leading developer and manager of affordable and mixed-income housing.
He will oversee activities across Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee and is responsible for all aspects of the development process from initial conception through construction, to lease-up and stabilized occupancy or sale.
Prior to joining Pennrose, Eckstein served as senior vice president at Harmony Housing (formerly Greystone Affordable Development) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
He is actively involved in the affordable housing industry, serving on the boards of Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, National Rural Housing Coalition, and Rural Rental Housing Association—Texas.
Enterprise Names Southeast VP
Christie Cade has been appointed vice president of the Southeast market for Enterprise Community Partners.
Cade will lead the organization’s efforts across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, with a focus on delivering needed capital and resources to expand affordable housing and community development capacity in the region. This includes coordinating investment to support housing production, providing training and technical assistance to support preservation and faith-based development, and advocating for housing policies at the state and local levels.
Prior to joining Enterprise, Cade served as regional vice president for the Southern region at NeighborWorks America, where she directed financial and technical services across 13 states and the District of Columbia.
A seasoned housing leader with her roots in the Greater Atlanta community, Cade's previous roles include senior manager of housing development for the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership and assistant director of housing for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, where she administered state and federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and other financing programs.
NeighborWorks America Appoints Director of Sustainability
Cormac Molloy has been named director of sustainability and resilience, a new position on NeighborWorks America’s national real estate programs team within the national initiatives division.
The position follows increased emphasis by NeighborWorks America and its national network of nearly 250 locally managed nonprofit community development organizations on building resiliency and sustainability for all types of affordable homes throughout the country.
Molloy has been a leader in the NeighborWorks training division, establishing professional development programs that build technical and financial expertise necessary to access investment funds that improve the sustainability and resiliency of the built environment.
Wallick Names SVP of Marketing and Branding
Tammana “Tam” Bharakhda has been elevated to senior vice president of marketing and branding at Wallick. She will lead a team dedicated to developing and executing comprehensive strategic marketing, branding, and communication strategies across multiple business divisions.
Bharakhda joined the firm in 2020 as vice president of marketing.
Ohio-based Wallick serves the affordable housing, workforce housing, and senior living markets. It has more than 1,100 associates across five business divisions: development, construction, asset management, affordable housing operations, and senior living operations.
Klein Hornig Announces Partners
Doruk Onvural and Jed D’Abravanel have been named partners at the Klein Hornig law firm.
Advising nonprofit and for-profit developers, Onvural handles a range of affordable housing, community development, and real estate transactions nationwide. His practice encompasses the acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction of housing projects financed with a mix of LIHTCs, historic tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, and state and city funding sources.
Primarily serving affordable housing developers in California, D’Abravanel guides clients in finance, real estate, and nonprofit law issues. He also advises organizations on regulatory issues relating to Section 8 project-based rental assistance and project-based voucher and housing choice voucher programs.
JLL Makes Leadership Appointments in Value and Risk Advisory Group
Jim O’Leary, Jon Sestak, and Inna Babakulieva have been named to leadership roles within JLL’s value and risk advisory platform.
O’Leary has been promoted to lead the industrial sector. Based in Chicago, he has more than 20 years of valuation experience, including roles in management, professional and business development, production, and recruitment. He has a comprehensive understanding of all types of real estate valuation services with a focus on the industrial sector, including valuations, feasibility studies, real estate portfolio financial reporting, litigation support, property tax consulting, and sale-leasebacks. Earlier, O’Leary led the Midwest industrial valuation team since 2023 at JLL and prior to that was a first vice president within CBRE’s valuation and advisory services group.
Sestak and Babakulieva have been appointed executive directors. Sestak specifically will continue the growth of the affordable housing sector, while Babakulieva will focus on the expansion of the multifamily sector in the Southeast region.JLL is a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company.
Cassin & Cassin Announces Promotions
Katelyn R. Squicciarini has been named partner, and Mariana Cassin Fletcher has been promoted to counsel at Cassin & Cassin.
A member of the firm’s agency lending and affordable housing practices, Squicciarini represents lenders in the financing of multifamily properties through the Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting & Servicing (DUS) program and the Freddie Mac Seller-Servicer program in both conventional loan and affordable housing programs, with an emphasis on Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment programs, tax-exempt bonds, and LIHTCs, among other areas.
Fletcher is a key adviser in the firm’s commercial mortgage-backed securities and bridge lending practices, representing institutional and commercial lenders in closing commercial real estate loans in all asset classes intended for securitization, sale in the secondary market, or to be held on lenders' balance sheets. In addition, she also has experience closing commercial real estate loans for the financing of multifamily properties through the Fannie Mae DUS program and the Freddie Mac Seller-Servicer program. The Cassin & Cassin law firm specializes in real estate, real estate finance, and private client matters.
