Thielen Changes Role at R4 Capital
Ronne Thielen has been named director of public policy and advocacy at R4 Capital, a national affordable housing syndicator, lender, and asset manager.
Cory Bannister has rejoined the firm to assume Thielen’s role as director of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) acquisitions for the Western region and will be based in the Newport Beach, Calif., office.
Thielen’s new role enables R4 Capital, which has more than $3 billion of capital under management, to be a direct participant in the evolution of state and federal affordable housing policy. An affordable housing advocate and industry leader, she helped establish the LIHTC program in 1986. Since opening R4’s California office in 2012, she has acquired LIHTC properties with total development costs exceeding $1.6 billion. In her new role, Thielen will promote and encourage affordable housing initiatives to expand availability and inventory where it is needed most.
Bannister’s decade-long career in affordable housing has toggled between syndicator and developer. He will lead LIHTC acquisitions in the West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). Prior to joining the company, he began his career at Prudential Mortgage Capital structuring loans to affordable housing developments and worked for two prominent West Coast developers where he developed over 890 units of affordable housing with total development costs exceeding $200 million.
Columbia Residential Appoints VP of Asset Management
Laurel Hart has joined the executive team at Columbia Residential as vice president of asset management and preservation. She will be responsible for the leadership, strategy, and implementation of plans to maintain the economic, physical, and operational sustainability of the firm’s portfolio, which includes more than 7,500 affordable and mixed-income multifamily housing units in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
Prior to joining Atlanta-based Columbia Residential, Hart served as the director of housing finance and development for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, where she oversaw the administration of Georgia’s LIHTC program.
Working closely with the rest of Columbia Residential’s executive team, Hart’s focus will be on the long-term sustainability and improvement of Columbia’s current portfolio as well as the critical recapitalization and acquisition of properties that have completed their initial compliance period. She will also lead Columbia’s expanding efforts to broaden its impact to add and restructure and recapitalize additional affordable housing assets with Columbia’s partners.
Grogan Becomes POUA President
William Grogan has been appointed president of the Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA) in Boston.
He has been involved in affordable housing, economic development, and community revitalization work for 25 years. Since joining the organization in 2005 as its COO and general counsel, Grogan has been responsible for overseeing POUA's operations, legal work, and all aspects of its development efforts, including the acquisition, financing, construction, and property management of its affordable and mixed-income housing and mixed-use developments.
He takes over the top role from Lisa B. Alberghini, who recently left to join the Housing Partnership Network as executive vice president, leading peer exchange, policy advocacy and communications.
Since 1969, POUA has completed close to 40 developments with nearly 3,000 units of affordable and mixed-income housing. This has impacted more than 12,000 people and channeled in excess of $625 million of investment into neighborhoods and towns throughout metropolitan Boston. Additionally, at least 25% of all rental housing developed by POUA is for the benefit of those at risk of or transitioning from homelessness.
TCB Announces Three Executive Appointments
The Community Builders (TCB), one of America's leading nonprofit developers of affordable and mixed-income housing, has announced three executive appointments.
Lisa Wilcox-Erhardt has been named senior vice president of property management. She will lead the TCB property management portfolio of over 9,000 apartment homes and a staff of 350 people. She will direct property operations and provide strategic advice and direction for the entire organization as a member of the TCB leadership team.
Previously, Wilcox-Erhardt served as executive vice president of housing and services at CommonBond Communities in Minnesota, a nonprofit housing organization she joined in 2006.
Morgan Wilson has been appointed CFO, overseeing strategy and operations for financial management, accounting, and information systems across the organization. Wilson joined TCB in 2000 and most recently served as vice president of development operations.
In a newly created role,
Tom Buonopane has become chief investment officer, overseeing project finance, asset management, and community development financing such as New Markets Tax Credits, Capital Magnet Fund awards, and other Community Development Finance Institution resource aggregation and origination.
Since 1964, TCB has constructed or preserved hundreds of affordable and mixed-income housing developments. Anchored by offices in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, and Washington, D.C., it owns or manages 11,000 apartment homes in more than 14 states.
The Habitat Co. Names VP of Affordable Group
Kimberly Sisney has joined The Habitat Co. as vice president, Habitat Affordable Group, the firm’s affordable division, which manages more than 10,000 units.
She is responsible for the overall operations of Habitat’s 60 affordable communities located in Chicago and St. Louis, as well as the oversight and leadership of current and future affordable housing partners. She will also oversee planning and strategy for the portfolio in addition to managing profitability and quality services; process improvements; marketing; budgeting; and accountability for all properties under The Habitat Affordable Group.
She brings more than 25 years of experience in property management to the role. Before joining Habitat, Sisney served as property management director at Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. Prior to that, she served as vice president of operations for Urban Innovations, where she was responsible for the physical, managerial, and fiscal oversight of affordable senior housing in five states. Previously, Sisney was a senior asset manager at the Illinois Housing Development Authority.
The NRP Group Hires VP of Development
David Brown has become regional vice president of development at The NRP Group, a move that furthers the company’s expansion in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Brown will oversee the company’s pursuit of development opportunities in Dallas, a major commercial and cultural hub with a growing population and a rising demand for multifamily housing.
He began his real estate career at LMC, a Lennar Co., where he was responsible for managing all phases of development on projects throughout Texas, including The 23 Victory Park, a mixed-use, high-rise development that features luxury apartments and 20,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, and Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas—Victory Park, an upscale movie theater. Prior to joining NRP, Brown was a vice president for a private developer in Dallas, where he was responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence, underwriting, deal financing, construction administration, and asset management.
The NRP Group is a vertically integrated developer, owner, builder, and manager of best-in-class multifamily housing. Since its founding in 1994, NRP has delivered more than 33,000 apartment homes and manages over 17,000 residential units.
Bellwether Enterprise Creates Workforce Housing and Social Impact Team
Anthony Tarter has been named executive vice president and director of the new workforce housing and social impact team at Bellwether Enterprise, the commercial and multifamily mortgage banking subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment.
He is joined by Drew Oden, assistant vice president, who brings eight years of multifamily experience as a director agency lender and adviser for equity placement.
Based in Dallas, Tarter will be responsible for direct loan originations through Bellwether’s various debt and equity programs, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Housing Administration, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and exclusive life insurance company investors.
He brings more than 17 years in the real estate finance industry and considerable expertise in multifamily agency lending. Prior to joining Bellwether Enterprise, he was a principal at PGIM Real Estate Finance, formerly known as Prudential, where he was instrumental in helping the company originate workforce housing deals. He also served as vice president of multifamily loan production at Arbor Commercial Mortgage and earlier in his career worked at PNC Real Estate and its predecessor ARCS Commercial. During his career, he has originated more than $5 billion in multifamily loans; as an underwriter, he assisted in closing multifamily loans totaling more than $15 billion.
CSH Announces CFO
Eileen Hawes has been named CFO at CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing).
She oversees all aspects of CSH’s financial and administrative operations, including finance and accounting, facilities, financial planning and budget development, and pension plan administration. Hawes joined CSH this year and has an extensive background in affordable housing finance and operations.
Prior to joining CSH, she worked as assistant vice president at Moody’s Investor Services in their Public Finance Housing & State Revolving Funds unit. Hawes has served as vice president of finance at Michaels Development, one of the largest affordable housing developers in the country and a full-service residential real estate organization. She also served as CFO for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency for 15 years.
Housing Partnership Expands Team
Kim Dempsey will be joining the executive team of the Housing Partnership Network (HPN) as executive vice president of capital markets in September.
She will fill the role formerly held by Rebecca Regan, who will be leading the organization’s innovation work in the newly created position of chief innovation officer.
Dempsey, who has been serving as deputy director of the social investment practice at The Kresge Foundation, brings 18 years of expertise in housing and community development finance as a researcher, lender, and impact investor.
Prior to Kresge, she worked at the Urban Institute and Capital Impact Partners, a leading community development financial institution and HPN member. She has raised and structured funds with public, private and philanthropic capital across multiple sectors and asset classes. Dempsey will work out of HPN’s Boston and Detroit offices, where she will also be leading the capital raise efforts for HPN’s affiliate Develop Detroit.
Regan led HPN’s capital markets team for over eight years. During that time, she raised more than $400 million of debt, equity and grant capital for HPN and its social enterprises. In her new role, she will head up the organization’s newly expanded R&D team.
HPN is a national network and business cooperative of leading affordable housing and community development nonprofits that operate in every state in the nation.
Senate Confirms HUD Appointments
The Senate confirmed Hunter Kurtz to serve as assistant secretary of public and Indian housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Kurtz most recently served as the principal deputy secretary for public and Indian housing. He also has served in the White House as deputy chief of staff at the Council of Economic Advisers as well as the deputy director of Detroit’s Department of Housing and Revitalization.
The Senate also confirmed Seth Appleton to serve as assistant secretary of policy development and research at HUD.
Appleton recently served as HUD’s associate deputy secretary. Before that, he served as acting assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental relations. He also served as chief of staff for Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri from 2009 to 2017.
