Ten years ago, Kyle Paine and his brother, Eric, took a chance on the affordable housing industry. They founded Community Development Partners (CDP), based in Newport Beach, California, with the belief that stable housing is necessary for a high quality of life.
Paine had been working in multifamily when the Great Recession happened and all development stopped and then later for a property management firm, where he oversaw a few affordable housing projects.
His newly founded firm got a few deals right away, and the rest is history. In the past decade, CDP has completed 24 developments, with almost two dozen more in various stages of construction or predevelopment, providing affordable homes for more than 2,000 households in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Oregon.
“It’s still a young company,” says Paine, who serves as president and oversees all acquisition and development activities in Arizona, California, and Nevada. “I feel like we’re new in the industry, we still have not seen Year 15. We will celebrate our 10th year at the end of 2021, and that’s a big milestone for us.”
Paine says when CDP was founded, none of the staff had experience in affordable housing, and the team has grown and learned together over the years.
“Not having this trajectory early on, I feel like I have grown up in my career and understanding of all things real estate,” he says. “I am very lucky to work in a job that not only keeps me busy but is motivating. At the end of the day, I’m helping people.”
For the 39-year-old, the creativity that comes with the design, amenities, and services and how that will impact CDP’s residents is what drives him. Working toward its mission of providing a high quality of life for its residents, he says the firm continues to push the envelope on amenities and services—for example, adding community gardens, retail space for nonprofits, and arts installations and programming.
Paine says CDP will continue to push that envelope and keep a steady growth plan, with six or seven deals a year between the Newport Beach and Portland offices. It also wants to expand its partnership efforts, working with local nonprofits to help them grow their capacity to do more.
Outside of the office, Paine is a part owner of a restaurant and enjoys staying active through running, snowboarding, and basketball. He and his wife have two young children.
