Markowski Takes New Post
Longtime Chicago Housing Commissioner John Markowski recently resigned to become president of Park Bank Initiatives, the community development arm of Park National Bank.
Markowski, 56, served as commissioner since 1999. He joined the department in 1992.
Under his direction, the city invested more than $3 billion to support more than 100,000 units of affordable housing. Other accomplishments include the creation of more than 2,000 new homes, 50,000 affordable rental units, 5,700 seniors housing units, and 5,200 singleroom occupancy units.
Park Bank Initiatives focuses on community redevelopment, especially in the communities of Pullman and Englewood.
LINC Appoints New VPs
LINC Housing Corp., a nonprofit affordable housing developer in California, has named two vice presidents.
Suny Lay Chang has been promoted to vice president of housing development and will lead LINC’s development operations, including development, project financing, and construction administration.
Nina Dooley has been promoted to vice president of corporate development and communications. She will oversee the organization’s expansion through strategic planning, marketing, fund development, communications, and public relations.
In other changes, Peter Grant was promoted to assistant director of housing development. Conor Weir was hired as a project manager, and Beth Davis was promoted to associate project manager.
HPD Hires Deputy Commissioner
Laura O. Lazarus has been appointed deputy commissioner for development at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
She was a senior vice president at Telesis Corp., a developer of large-scale community revitalization projects. She led Telesis’ New York office.
Homestead Leader to Retire
Deborah Saweuyer-Parks has handed over her duties as president of Homestead Capital. She will remain as CEO until June 2008, when she will retire.
Homestead is a Portland, Ore.- based nonprofit low-income housing tax credit syndicator.
William McCormick, a board member for the past four years, has become president and will manage the day-today operations.
The moves come as the Oregon Department of Justice is auditing the organization to determine if Saweuyer- Parks’ compensation is reasonable and to assess the appropriateness of a business transaction between Homestead and her husband.
Saweuyer-Parks said she had been considering retirement for some time and that the move was not related to the audit.
Ramsel Becomes Head of MHDC
Pete Ramsel has become executive director of the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC).
He joined MHDC in 1995 as a senior loan underwriter. He later served as chief underwriter and deputy director from 2001 until becoming acting executive director in 2005.
