Rhode Island Housing Names Executive Director
Carol Ventura has been named executive director of Rhode Island Housing. She has been serving as interim executive director since March.
For nearly 20 years, Ventura has helped Rhode Islanders access housing opportunities at RIHousing as deputy director, director of development, overseeing all aspects of development financing activities, and assistant director of the policy division. Previously, she served as executive director of a community development organization in northern Rhode Island.
Her appointment comes after an extensive national search following the departure of Barbara Fields earlier this year.
RI Housing reported a record-breaking year in 2018, including an overall economic impact of $780 million in the state and the corporation’s highest mortgage volume in its history. It financed the development and preservation of 773 apartments, representing an investment of $139 million in Rhode Island communities. These developments supported 1,291 jobs.
Gilbane Development Names VP, Finance Director
Jim McCurdy has been promoted to vice president, director of finance, at Gilbane Development Co.
With over 14 years of industry experience, McCurdy joined the firm in 2015 and has been actively involved in capital raises totaling over $3 billion during his time at Gilbane. He has extensive experience in student housing, market-rate housing, affordable housing, mixed-use, municipal infrastructure, and public-private partnerships. McCurdy is responsible for developing corporate and project-level finance strategies, analyzing new deals, disposition and acquisition due diligence, capital sourcing including raising joint-venture equity, and advising development teams.
WHEDA Names Commercial Lending Product Manager
Matt Childress has been promoted to commercial lending product manager at the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).
He will lead WHEDA’s housing tax credit program and will be responsible for the implementation and oversight of the tax credit qualified allocation plan. He will also engage with internal leadership and external partners to manage and monitor WHEDA’s housing policies and programs.
Childress joined WHEDA in 2013 and most recently worked as a commercial lending officer.
Tiber Hudson Adds Partner
Robert “Rob” Kearbey has joined Tiber Hudson, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, as a partner.
He has a multifaceted practice representing lenders, borrowers, underwriters, bond issuers, developers, and others in commercial real estate and transactional finance. Kearbey has extensive experience in affordable multifamily housing finance, with a focus on the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and Section 8 programs, having spent many years representing Freddie Mac’s Targeted Affordable Housing team both as in-house and outside counsel. He has been instrumental in the design and implementation of many of the new products and structures deployed by Freddie Mac, including the design and evolution of the flagship Tax-Exempt Loan program.
Kearbey brings his institutional knowledge in the representation of lenders in originating, securitizing, and servicing affordable multifamily housing loans and bonds. He also serves as bond, lender, underwriter, borrower, and trustee counsel for tax-exempt and taxable financings in the senior housing, health-care, and public infrastructure sectors.
Windels Marx Expands with New Partner
Isabel D. Chou has joined Windels Marx as a partner in the firm’s New Brunswick, N.J., office. Her practice focuses on affordable housing, redevelopment, municipal, and nonprofit law.
Chou is experienced with the complex structuring and financing of affordable housing and redevelopment projects using federal, state, and local government subsidy and incentive programs. She has worked with a range of public housing authorities, municipalities, and private developers in the transformation of outdated publicly and privately run multifamily housing projects.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Chou spent 10 years in nonprofit program management and organizational development, primarily focused on children’s health and education advocacy.
Chase Expands Community Development Banking Team
Chase announced that Ken Overshiner has joined the Community Development Banking business within commercial banking, as an executive director on the Central regional team. Based in Houston, he will be responsible for supporting clients based in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas.
With more than 30 years of industry experience, Overshiner was recently a senior vice president of community capital at BBVA Compass, where he originated debt and equity for affordable housing development. Prior to that, he worked at Chase as a senior banker within Community Development Banking, providing construction lending for affordable housing through LIHTCs.
Bellwether Enterprise Announces Moves
Lundat Kassa has joined Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital as a vice president based in the Washington, D.C., office.
Kassa is responsible for originating commercial real estate loans with a focus on senior living facilities and multifamily housing properties. She also originates hospitality, industrial, retail, manufactured housing, office, and self-storage loans. Kassa spent the last six years at Love Funding, where she served in various roles and was involved in all aspects of hospital loan financing and in the credit assessment of senior living and multifamily loans.
The firm, the commercial and multifamily mortgage banking subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment, also promoted Victor Agusta in Raleigh, N.C.; Jon Killough in Montgomery, Ala.; and Jim Gillespie in New York to the executive vice president level. They each manage high volumes of multifamily housing deals each year.
Marcus & Millichap Announces Promotion
Tyler Theobald has been promoted to first vice president, general counsel, at Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.
In his new role, Theobald will be responsible for overseeing the company’s legal department. A member of the firm’s in-house legal team since 2014, he has a broad range of legal expertise and experience that will help elevate the company’s legal support and services.
Theobald began his career with the company as assistant general counsel and chief compliance officer. He has been recognized twice by the Los Angeles Business Journal as a top in-house counsel. In 2017, Theobald was promoted to vice president and in 2018 to deputy general counsel. Prior to joining the company, Theobald was an attorney in San Diego and served as the chair of the Labor and Employment Section of the San Diego County Bar Association.
