Rich Froehlich, a longtime affordable housing leader in New York, died Sept. 24. He was 57.
He was first executive vice president and chief operating officer of the New York City Housing Development Corp. (HDC). He was a critical part of HDC since joining as its general counsel in 2003.
“Rich was a natural connector of people and ideas,” said Eric Enderlin, HDC president. “There was never a problem too complicated for him to untangle and to guide us all through. His presence will be missed dearly by the entire affordable housing industry and especially at HDC, where he served and led the city through some of our biggest challenges for nearly two decades.”
Most recently, Froehlich played an integral role in the design and implementation of mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan to build and preserve 300,000 affordable housing units in New York City.
Several housing organizations joined HDC in mourning Froehlich, who served as board president of the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (NALHFA) since 2018.
“Many of us know Rich as an exceptional problem-solver, leader, and affordable housing advocate,” said Jonathan Paine, NALHFA executive director, in a statement. “This is truly a great loss to many. I will personally miss Rich for his friendship, outstanding leadership, wisdom, and passion for helping others. The entire NALHFA community mourns his loss, and extend our sympathies to his family, friends, and colleagues."
At the federal level, Froehlich played a critical role in the creation of “recycled bonds,” which provided New York City and other communities with billions of dollars of new tax-exempt bonds, as well as the New Issue Bond Program, which delivered affordable financing to housing finance agencies throughout the country during the midst of the Great Recession, added the New York Housing Conference, which honored Froehlich for his public service in 2015.
Prior to joining HDC, he was a counsel at the law offices of O’Melveny & Meyers, where he was involved in numerous multifamily housing transactions representing equity investors, lenders, credit enhancers, and issuers in bond-financed transactions.
Froehlich also helped shape the next generation of leaders as a longtime adjunct faculty member at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, teaching courses on affordable housing and public finance.
He was preceded in death by his husband and partner of 27 years, Dr. Joseph DiVito, Jr., who died earlier this year.
