Jamboree Names VP of Community Impact
George F. Searcy has been named vice president of community impact at Jamboree Housing, an affordable housing developer based in Irvine, Calif.
He will lead the nonprofit’s statewide initiative to leverage its affordable housing as a platform for community development that creates measurable improvement in neighborhoods. Jamboree is focused on building evidence-based practices in housing, economic development, education, and health-related interventions on a wider scale.
Searcy joined Jamboree last year as vice president of resident services.
“With this change, George will lead our initiative to widen the scope and diversity of our economic development, education, social, and health and wellness initiatives designed to support communities in which we develop and own properties,” said Laura Archuleta, Jamboree president. “By working with neighborhood residents and surrounding businesses, schools, and community-based groups, Jamboree will make measurable advances in our mission to partner with communities to enhance the health and quality of community, individual, and family life.”
ROEM Hires Public Housing Veteran
Alex Sanchez, former executive director of the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara (Calif.), has joined ROEM Development Corp. as executive vice president.
Sanchez will concentrate on strategic growth efforts for ROEM’s housing pipeline and will focus on expanding its portfolio of affordable housing developments. He will advance ROEM’s affordable housing commitment to the larger community and will leverage relationships to identify new, collaborative, and integrated development opportunities.
Before leading one of the nation’s largest public housing authorities for 14 years, Sanchez served as director of housing for the city of San Jose, Calif., for many years.
ROEM Corp. and its affiliated entities are a full-service development and construction organization that specializes in the acquisition, planning, financing, new construction, renovation, and asset management of market-rate and affordable housing throughout California. The company has completed over 4,000 units, with another 1,400 units currently under construction or scheduled to break ground by the end of 2016.
Monroe Group Expands Team
Monroe Group has announced the addition of two key members to its team: Justin Boyd as corporate counsel and Jill Whitmore as director of finance.
Boyd will help manage all legal issues, providing counsel to the senior management team and principals. He recently worked as real estate counsel at Black Creek Group, where he was lead attorney on more than $300 million industrial core and development acquisitions.
Whitmore will manage all corporate financial issues, including strategic planning and initiatives. She will oversee the accounting department, monitor property level economic performance, and ensure that alldeliverables and commitments are met with investors and other external partners. She previously worked at AIMCO, where she spent almost 10 years holding leadership roles across different financial departments, most recently working as director of finance—investor relations.
Boyd and Whitmore will also hold their same titles for Steele Properties, Monroe’s acquisition and development partner.
Monroe is a leading property management firm specializing in affordable multifamily and senior/disabled housing. The company manages a portfolio of over 40 properties nationwide, totaling over 3,500 units. Steele is a national real estate firm specializing in the acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction of affordable multifamily rental properties. Steele has successfully completed over $400 million in acquisitions, sales, and development activity involving 40 properties and over 4,000 units, including 29 tax credit projects.
Pennrose Promotes Compliance Executive
R.J. Saturno has been promoted to vice president, compliance and legal, at Pennrose Properties. The move signals the expansion of his role and increased scope of responsibilities. Saturno originally joined the organization in 2013 as a compliance officer.
He is responsible for daily oversight of legal matters by coordinating with Pennrose’s external attorneys and partners for both the development and management companies. He has been instrumental in identifying and implementing a number of new policies to enhance company best practices and has provided valuable training to Pennrose employees related to workplace preparedness.
Prior to Pennrose, Saturno was corporate compliance officer, director of global security and compliance, with HARSCO Corp. His background also includes 25 years of experience with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as supervisory special agent/chief division counsel.
CREA Hires Acquisitions Executive for California
Richard Shea has joined City Real Estate Advisors (CREA) as a senior vice president of acquisitions. He is responsible for identifying, structuring, and closing affordable housing equity opportunities throughout California.
Active in affordable housing finance since 1990, Shea brings extensive experience to the firm. He is based in San Diego.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, CREA is a national low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) syndicator. It has raised more than $2.7 billion in investor equity since its formation in 2001.
WNC Announces Staff Moves
WNC has promoted Michael Simmerman to project manager, and added Kamisha McCargo and Jessica Cometa to the company as project manager and originator, respectively.
Simmerman, who joined WNC in 2010, previously served as a regional asset manager with the oversight of nearly 230 assets spanning the central United States. Prior to joining WNC, he had been a director of property management with an urban development and historic preservation company.
McCargo previously served as vice president of acquisitions with a national tax credit investment company, underwriting equity investments in affordable housing communities throughout the nation.
As an originator with WNC, Cometa will be responsible for assets in the western United States. She joins the company from one of the nation’s largest regional banks, where she had been an assistant relationship manager.
A national LIHTC syndicator and investor in real estate and community development initiatives, Irvine, Calif.–based WNC has acquired more than $7 billion of assets totaling in excess of 1,225 properties in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Walker & Dunlop Adds to Team
Walker & Dunlop has hired Eric Magnuson as senior vice president in its Western Region Capital Markets team in La Jolla, Calif.
He is a senior commercial real estate professional, responsible for debt and equity placement for commercial real estate finance, asset management, income property sales, project financial analysis, project capitalization, and lease negotiation with private and government entities.
Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, he owned Magnuson Capital Group for 20 years, arranging more than $1 billion in construction, equity, permanent, bridge, and structured debt.
In another move, the company added Jeffrey Taschler to the Walker & Dunlop Commercial Property Funding (WDCPF) team. As COO and senior vice president, he will be responsible for originating commercial financing opportunities for clients nationwide out of the New York office and will report to WDCPF CEO Tim Koltermann.
Taschler recently served as managing director at Ladder Capital, where he led a team of professionals specializing in the origination of high yield bridge, CMBS, and mezzanine debt.
MHDF Appoints SVP
Lara Huskey has been named senior vice president at Midwest Housing Development Fund (MHDF).
She will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of MHDF, including fundraising, grant writing, managing the organization’s loan portfolio, and representing MHDF in the community.
Huskey brings 17 years of affordable housing industry experience to MHDF. Most recently, she served as deputy director for the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, where she provided leadership to division directors in housing, community development, business development, and economic research. In addition, she assisted with legislation and was responsible for the oversight of the agency budget and operations.
MHDF is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution that was formed in 2000 to help fill financing gaps in the development of affordable housing through public and private resources. To date, MHDF has provided 128 loans totaling over $31 million. These loans have helped create more than 3,700 affordable rental housing units across the Midwest.
