Alliant Capital Adds to Team

Phillip Wilkie has been appointed vice president of acquisitions at Alliant Capital, a low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) syndicator headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif.

He will be responsible for the acquisition of LIHTC properties in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Phillip Wilkie
Phillip Wilkie

Wilkie has more than 20 years of industry experience. From 1998 to 2004, he worked for First Union/Wachovia as an asset manager in the Tax Credit Investment Group. From 2004 to 2016, he held various positions for a regional tax credit syndicator, the last 10 years overseeing originations, acquisitions, and closings of properties in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Pennrose Opens Atlanta Office

Pennrose, a leading affordable housing developer and owner, has expanded its presence in the Southeast with the opening of a regional office in Atlanta.

The move will support the firm’s development activities in the region. Pennrose has successfully developed more than 15 multifamily properties in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The company has targeted those and other markets for further expansion and growth as part of its recently completed strategic plan, and has nearly 20 projects active in the development pipeline in the region.

Mark Straub, regional vice president based in Chattanooga, Tenn., will manage the office, continue to lead all development activities, and provide oversight to the targeted expansion and growth. Straub has been with Pennrose since 2005.

Amon Martin III
Amon Martin III

The Atlanta office will be initially staffed by Amon Martin III, who recently joined Pennrose as a senior developer. He has more than 15 years of development experience focused in design, financing, underwriting, master planning, construction, and acquisition. He most recently was senior development director with Integral Group where he contributed to deal generation and aided in the development of the company’s affordable assisted-living business model.

The Atlanta office is the second regional office expansion by Pennrose in the past year. In January, the company announced the opening of a Boston office to manage development activities in the New England region.

Flynn Named President of Hunt Mortgage Group

James P. Flynn has become president of Hunt Mortgage Group after serving the past year and a half as the firm’s executive managing director and CIO, overseeing all day-to-day business activity.

He will retain his role as CIO.

Flynn, who has been with Hunt Mortgage for almost 10 years, has worked in multiple aspects of commercial real estate at the company, including capital raising, business development, investment, and asset management. Previously, he served as a portfolio manager for the firm’s commercial mortgage REIT, raised public equity capital, and served in several critical advisory roles for the firm’s commercial mortgage-backed securities and high-yield debt funds. At one time, he led special servicing, the REO and asset disposition units, and managed an equity portfolio consisting of 1,100 multifamily housing properties with more than 120,000 units.

James P. Flynn
James P. Flynn

Prior to joining Hunt Mortgage Group, Flynn practiced law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and before that was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers.

Michaels Development Announces COO, Promotions

Kenneth Crawford has joined The Michaels Development Co. (MDC) in the newly created position of COO. The firm is the nation’s largest private-sector owner of affordable housing and one of most active developers of affordable and mixed-income housing across the country.

In the last two years, MDC has accumulated the largest pipeline in its 43-year history representing development costs of more than $2 billion. Michaels Development is an independent operating company of The Michaels Organization, a national leader in residential real estate with more than 380 communities in 35 states.

As COO, Crawford will work with both MDC’s regional leaders and the vice presidents overseeing acquisitions, underwriting, and design, development, and construction management to drive flawless execution in the company’s development operations.

He joins MDC with more than 25 years’ experience in commercial real estate finance and asset management, including having served the last 15 years in various leadership roles at Enterprise Community Investment. Earlier in his career, Crawford managed tax credit investing at M&T Bank.

Michaels also announced several promotions:

Ann O’Shea has been named senior vice president of finance. She previously served as a vice president in the finance department of The Michaels Organization.

Joseph Weatherly has been named regional vice president of acquisitions and emerging markets.

Greg Olson, formerly a construction vice president with MDC, has been promoted to vice president of design development and construction management.

David Lukens, previously a development officer working on Rental Assistance Demonstration transformations, has been promoted to vice president of underwriting.

Joel Silver, formerly a regional vice president, has been promoted to senior vice president and leads the Northeast region.

Karen Seddon has been promoted to regional vice president of the Hawaii region.

Michael Boettger has been promoted to regional vice president for MDC’s Northern California operations.

McCormack Baron Salazar Names SVP

Sasha-Gaye Angus has joined McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS) as senior vice president. She is returning to the company after working there more than six years ago.

She will focus her attention on the firm’s development activities in the Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh regions.

Angus comes to MBS from Telesis Corp., where she served as project director, managing the recapitalization and renovation of 653 multifamily dwelling units. She was also involved in strategic planning efforts as well as the generation of new business opportunities for the organization. Prior to Telesis, she worked for The Michaels Development Co. for over five years, where she served as vice president.

DCHFA Executive Director Confirmed

Todd A. Lee has been sworn in as executive director of the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA), after being approved by the Council of the District of Columbia. He had been appointed acting executive director in April.

Todd A. Lee
Todd A. Lee

Lee has more than 20 years of experience in the multifamily and commercial real estate finance industries. In the past 14 years, he held various leadership positions in Fannie Mae’s multifamily group, including vice president of borrower relationships, structured transactions, and seniors housing, director of multifamily equity, and director of the American Communities Fund. While at Fannie, he helped build a national investment portfolio that grew to 44,000 housing units with a gross asset value of $4.5 billion.

In addition, Yvette Downs has become CFO at the DCHFA.

She is responsible for coordinating the financial management functions of the agency’s $10 million budget. Downs will act as the authoritative source for accurate and complete financial reporting on DCHFA’s operations and accounting. In addition, Downs will make recommendations on financial policies for the agency’s debt and investment portfolio and cash management.

Prior to joining DCHFA, she served as CFO of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.

Dominium Announces Hires

Dominium, a leading apartment development and management company based in Minneapolis, announced the addition of several new team members.

Brittany Dallman has joined the firm as a project assistant. She will assist with multifamily project development, prepare finance and equity packages, and coordinate due diligence materials for lenders and equity institutions. Prior to joining Dominium, Dallman generated sales leads and maintained the Salesforce.com CRM system as a business development representative at Infor Global Solutions.

Brianna Chabot has been named financial reporting accountant. She will oversee and record value event transactions such as acquisitions, refinances, resyndications, sales, and buyouts. She will also manage cash flow forecasting and investment management reporting. Prior to joining Dominium, Chabot worked at Sherman Associates where she prepared financial statements for internal and external reporting and assisted the accounting department in streamlining and auditing their processes.

David Schlosser has been hired as a property accountant. He will produce monthly financial reports for multiple properties, approving invoices for payment, and working with community managers to ensure a professional environment for residents. Previously, he worked at Westport Properties and provided monthly financial reporting for 20 properties as well as company record management.

HUD Names Pacific Region Leader

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro has named Jon Gresley to serve as the department’s regional administrator in Region 9, which includes Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the U.S. territories in the Outer Pacific.

Gresley will serve as HUD’s chief liaison to state and local elected officials, congressional delegations, and other stakeholders throughout this region. He will work closely with senior officials of other federal agencies to leverage resources and implement administration-wide initiatives. He will also coordinate the delivery of HUD programmatic and financial support in housing, community, and economic development to housing authorities, federally recognized tribes, state and local governments, and other stakeholders in the region.

Gresley served as the executive director of the Oakland (Calif.) Housing Authority from 1999 to 2010. Before that, he served as deputy executive director.

Gresley joined HUD as an urban intern in the early 1970s.