Senate Confirms FHA Commissioner, DAS Announced
By a 74-23 vote, the Senate confirmed Brian D. Montgomery to serve as assistant secretary of housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
Montgomery’s confirmation marks his second term in the role. He previously held the job under President George W. Bush, staying on for six months after president Barack Obama’s inauguration.
In addition to previously serving in the position, Montgomery was a co-founder and a partner at the Collingwood Group; deputy assistant to the president from 2001 to 2003, including service as secretary to the Cabinet from 2003 to 2005; and a board member on the Federal Housing Finance Board.
HUD also announced C. Lamar Seats will be deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing programs.
He served as managing director at M&T Reality Capital Corp. Seats also previously held leadership roles at Enterprise Community Investment and Reilly Mortgage Group.
Riverside Capital Adds Team Members
Three executives have joined Riverside Capital, a national tax credit syndicator.
Drew Ries has been named to the dual role of CFO and COO. He will be based in Riverside’s Marlton, N.J., headquarters and will have primary oversight of the firm’s financial operations as well as its operating platform, including reporting and personnel. Ries joins Riverside with more than 20 years of global transactional and operational experience. Most recently, Ries served as CFO of Pareto Captive Services. Prior to that, he was COO and CFO of Citrine Capital Management, where he helped launch a global hedge fund and managed the daily operations of the firm.
Joshua Levy has been named senior vice president, investor relations. He will provide national oversight and strategic direction to Riverside’s investor relations team. He joins the company from Candlebrook Properties, where, as managing director, he oversaw all acquisitions and development activities, as well as asset and portfolio management. Previous to that, Levy served as senior vice president of Roizman & Cos. His experience also includes five years at Centerline Capital. Levy is also based in Marlton.
Matthew Haas has joined the firm as vice president, investor relations. Based in Los Angeles, Haas will oversee investor relationships, largely focusing on the West. He was recently at Merritt Community Capital Corp., where he served as director of investor relations and fund management for the past eight years, raising almost $500 million in equity for affordable housing funds. Prior to that, Haas was deputy director of California lending for the Low Income Investment Fund. His experience also includes senior positions at Fannie Mae, Bank of America, the National Equity Fund, and the Illinois Housing Development Authority.
Riverside Capital, a joint venture of Berkadia and The Michaels Organization, is a full-service tax credit investment company offering capital solutions to affordable housing developers.
Berkadia Expands Affordable Housing Team
Robert Wrzosek, managing director, has joined the Berkadia affordable housing team. He will be based in the firm’s New York office.
Wrzosek was recently with Berkeley Point Capital, where he was charged with expanding its affordable housing, seniors, health-care, and FHA lending platforms. During his tenure, Berkeley Point went from unranked to a top 5 Fannie Mae affordable lender in 2016 and a top 20 FHA lender, as well as being issued a dedicated affordable housing lender license from Freddie Mac.
Earlier, Wrzosek served as president of Hunt Mortgage Group and Hunt Financial Services. In these roles, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the government-sponsored enterprises and mortgage banking businesses. He also spent nearly six years at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for the establishment of the Walker & Dunlop joint venture by combining Credit Suisse’s GSE lending subsidiary, Column Guaranteed, and what was then known as Greenpark Financial.
During his career, he was also a partner with the law firm of Eichner & Norris, where his legal practice focused on structured finance and tax, with a specialization in the securitization of tax-exempt securities.
TCAM Opens Pittsburgh Office
TCAM has announced the opening of a Pittsburgh office by assistant director Elaine Magil. The move expands the firm’s presence in the Mid-Atlantic region where it has a growing list of clients.
Magil joined TCAM’s Advisory & Transaction Support Group in 2015 and has over 12 years of community, economic, and affordable housing finance experience. She possesses expertise in the public and nonprofit sectors. Magil is involved in many of TCAM’s major advisory engagements and provides analytical support for acquisitions, valuations, and dispositions of affordable housing assets. Prior to joining TCAM, Magil was a senior associate in the acquisitions department of a national LIHTC syndicator.
Headquartered in Boston, TCAM is an independent investment manager, providing asset management, advisory and consulting services to owners and funders of affordable housing. TCAM’s clients include owners, lenders, investors, guarantors and syndicators. Overall, the company provides services for 1,677 properties comprising 176,837 apartment units across the nation.
The NHP Foundation Names Director of Marketing
Marijane Funess has been tapped to head public relations and marketing at The NHP Foundation, a nonprofit provider of affordable housing.
In her new role, Marijane handles day-to-day PR, marketing, and social media functions. She will also plan organization’s major event, its fall symposium and dinner. This year’s event will debut a study on health and housing and honor leaders in the industry.
Funess was previously a director at Crenshaw Communications for seven years, managing consumer, corporate social responsibility, and tech accounts.
CAPREIT Announces Promotion
Dawn Coggins and Danielle Cooney have been promoted at CAPREIT, a fully integrated real estate operating company responsible for the ownership and management of more than $5 billion of multifamily assets.
Coggins, who recently served as vice president of the Mid-Atlantic region, was elevated to senior vice president of property management. In her new role, her responsibilities will include executing the oversight and operation management of CAPREIT’s entire portfolio. One of her main goals will be to promote optimal performance among property managers nationwide while providing strategic leadership and guidance for property operations, financial planning, product marketing, and staff selection and management. Coggins has been with CAPREIT for 24 years.
Cooney, who was recently an assistant vice president, was named vice president of operations. As part of her new role, she will further leverage her strategic leadership and operational oversight to design and deliver strategies to improve performance of the business. Cooney, who joined CAPREIT in 2015, will also oversee a portfolio of properties and have responsibility for maximizing property and team performance.
CAPREIT has been involved in more than 200 multifamily communities, representing more than 40,000 rental homes housing more than 100,000 residents.
Arbor Appoints SVP
Bill O’Brien has been appointed senior vice president, agency production, at Arbor Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust and national direct lender specializing in loan origination and service for multifamily, senior housing, health care, and other commercial real estate assets.
He will be responsible for the development and growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac production pipelines as well as agency relationship management.
O’Brien comes to Arbor with more than 25 years of commercial real estate lending experience. For the past 10 years, he served as Fannie Mae’s director of multifamily.
