HAC Names Director of Lending
Eileen Neely has been appointed director of lending at the Housing Assistance Council (HAC).
She will be the entrepreneurial leader and manager of HAC’s lending and community investment functions that provide low-cost capital to nonprofits, for-profits, and local governments developing affordable housing in rural communities throughout the United States.
Neely brings 30 years of experience in finance and impact investment to the post. She joins HAC after working as a consultant for housing and impact investment organizations across the country. Prior to that, she served as director of capital innovation at Living Cities, director of strategy for the District of Columbia Housing Authority, COO of the Fresno Housing Authority, and director of public entity lending at Fannie Mae.
A national nonprofit and a certified community development financial institution, HAC is dedicated to helping local rural organizations build affordable homes by providing below-market financing, technical assistance, training, research, and information services.
Partnership for Strong Communities Appoints Executive Director
Kiley Gosselin has been named executive director of the Partnership for Strong Communities (PSC) in Connecticut.
Alicia Woodsby, the previous executive director, will transition to the role of senior policy advisor for PSC, as part of a succession planning process initiated by Woodsby last year.
Gosselin brings 14 years of experience in the housing and homelessness sector and has served as PSC’s deputy executive director. Her prior work experience includes serving as acting and deputy director of the Department of Development Services for the city of Hartford, Conn., from 2016 to 2018, where she led the city’s efforts to support development of affordable and market-rate housing, reduce the number of blighted properties, and support the development of small businesses.
Prior to her time with Hartford, she served as a management and program analyst at the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), where she helped coordinate federal policy efforts to prevent and end homelessness among families and unaccompanied youth and to connect people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness to a variety of mainstream federal housing programs. Before joining USICH, Gosselin practiced law for six years with Holland & Knight in the area of business tax, specifically equity financing for affordable housing projects eligible for low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and various state housing finance programs. She worked for PSC in 2005 and 2006 as a policy analyst.
PSC is a statewide nonprofit policy and advocacy organization dedicated to ending homelessness, expanding affordable housing, and building strong communities. PSC staffs and manages two statewide campaigns: The Reaching Home Campaign to prevent and end homelessness, and the HOMEConnecticut campaign to expand affordable housing.
RBC Capital Markets Tax Credit Equity Group Announces Promotions
Dan Kierce has been promoted to managing director by RBC Capital Markets’ Tax Credit Equity Group. He is responsible for originating, structuring and negotiating LIHTC investments in the central region, with a particular focus on Texas. He joined RBC in 2003 and has over 25 years of experience in LIHTC syndication and has closed equity transactions in over 30 states.
Prior to joining RBC, Kierce had 11 years of experience with a major financial institution and a syndication firm, where he was responsible for acquiring and structuring tax credit investments, as well as providing additional debt products to developer clients.
He is a board member of the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers, where he serves as president-elect of the board as well as the chairman of the Government Affairs Committee. Kierce is also a board member of the Michigan Housing Council, a member of the Indiana Affordable Housing Council, and a board member of the Rose-Mary Center, a nonprofit that serves children and adults with development disabilities.
Eric Moody has been promoted to managing director of underwriting. He has assumed greater responsibilities since joining RBC in 2006, which includes serving as director of underwriting since 2011. He has oversight of all aspects of lower-tier closings, management of underwriting staff, and relationship coverage of select investor clients. Prior to this role, he served as vice president of acquisitions for RBC's Southeast region in Charlotte, N.C.
Moody began his LIHTC career as an underwriter within Wachovia’s tax credit investment group in 2000 and has over 20 years of real estate industry experience within large financial institutions. His experience includes the nationwide acquisition, underwriting, and structuring of federal and state tax credit investments for syndication to institutional clients. He is a board member of Charlotte Family Housing, a nonprofit whose mission is the empowerment of families experiencing homelessness to achieve long-term self-sufficiency through housing and supportive services.
Tammy Thiessen has been promoted to managing director of equity sales. In this role, she manages the equity sales team, originates and manages both multi-investor fund and proprietary investor client relationships, and oversees all aspects of the fund closing process with a focus on providing top-tier service to investor clients.
She joined RBC in 2004 and has continued to assume greater leadership responsibility after holding previous roles, including vice president of investor relations and transaction analyst. Thiessen began her LIHTC career with KeyBank Real Estate Capital in 2002. Previously, she worked in various roles at several large financial institutions and private corporations, including mergers and acquisitions, compliance, and contracts administration.
Coats Rose Elevates Lawyers
Coats Rose, a transactional and litigation law firm focused on development, announces the promotions of four lawyers.
Andrea Hope J. Steel, a member of the affordable housing and community development practice in Houston, has been promoted to director. She represents public housing authorities and both for-profit and nonprofit developers primarily in affordable housing developments utilizing HUD’s RAD program, the LIHTC, and the exchange program.
S. Shannon Davis Hunter, who is also a member of the affordable housing and community development practice group in Houston, has been elected of counsel. She represents public housing authorities, for-profit and nonprofit housing developers, syndicators, and investors with leveraging various products, including HOPE VI funds, LIHTCs, private-activity tax-exempt bonds, investment syndications, and conventional loans, to finance their projects.
Molly Durbin, a member of the real estate and business practice groups in Dallas, has been promoted to director. She represents clients in the acquisition, development, financing and disposition of real property, entity formations and governance documentation, acquisitions, dispositions, and other contract negotiations. Durbin also represents landlords and tenants in lease preparation and negotiations.
Matthew R. Talley, a member of the construction/surety and litigation practice groups located in both Austin and San Antonio, has also been named a director. He represents public entities and private companies in transactional and litigation matters, including developing and negotiating construction contracts, professional services agreements, subcontracts, purchase orders, and employment agreements and counseling in the areas of contractual insurance requirements and coverage disputes.
CHIP Names President and CEO
Seana O’Shaughnessy has been appointed president and CEO of Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), an affordable housing nonprofit based in Chico, Calif.
O’Shaughnessy is originally from the area’s Butte County, but spent several years leading affordable housing organizations in the Bay Area. She worked as the executive director for Rebuilding Together Peninsula from 2007 to 2015 and as a community development coordinator for the city of South San Francisco prior to that. She relocated to Chico in 2015 with her husband and daughter and served as the director for Rebuilding Together, Western Region.
Since 1973, CHIP has developed more than 2,600 affordable housing units in its seven-county service area, which includes Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Shasta, Tehama, Yuba, and Sutter counties. It is a network member of NeighborWorks America.
Nixon Peabody Promotes 4 to Partner
The Nixon Peabody law firm has announced its new partner class, which includes four attorneys working in affordable housing and community development.
Edward Campbell handles regulatory and transactional matters involving the acquisition, financing, development, asset management, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable and multifamily housing developments using LIHTCs, various Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidy programs, and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan products. Campbell is a former in-house counsel to HUD in California and Washington, D.C. He is based in Los Angeles.
Nathaniel Cushman focuses his practice advising affordable housing clients across the country on regulatory and transactional matters involving multifamily affordable housing acquisition, ownership, development, financing, rehabilitation, and preservation. He has a deep understanding of complex HUD regulatory processing and counsels clients on mixed-finance development transactions and Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversions. He is based in Washington, D.C.
John Marti is co-leader of Nixon Peabody’s LIHTC team and advises equity investors, syndicators, and lenders in financing community development projects. He helps clients structure and negotiate tax credit transactions, as well as leverage multiple sources of financing to develop multifamily housing and other projects that benefit underserved communities across the country. Based in Boston, Marti also advises closing tax credit finance transactions involving historic rehabilitation tax credits.
Susanna Mitchell works with nonprofit and for-profit real estate developers and owners to develop and preserve multifamily and senior housing. She typically represents purchasers and developers in acquiring, rehabilitating, constructing, and refinancing affordable housing. Mitchell structures and closes transactions involving a combination of debt and equity financing, which often include joint ventures and multiple sources of government subsidy. Leveraging her experience as former in-house counsel to HUD, Mitchell often represents borrowers and lenders in closing FHA-insured loans. She is based in Washington, D.C.
CPC Announces Promotion
CPC Mortgage Co.'s Timothy Deegan has been promoted to vice president and head of agency production. In his new role, he will oversee production across the company’s FHA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae lending platforms and will work with originations staff and borrowers to provide technical assistance and ensure deal execution.
CPC Mortgage Co. is a subsidiary of the Community Preservation Corp., a leading nonprofit multifamily finance company. Prior to joining CPC last year as vice president of FHA lending and origination, Deegan was the senior director of operations and capital markets at Cosmopolitan Capital Funding.
CHN Adds to Team
Janet Reed-James has joined CHN Housing Partners as director of human resources.
She is a seasoned human resources leader with experience in financial, real estate, and retail institutions. She most recently served as senior human resource business partner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Prior to that, Reed-James served as the director of human resources at Forest City Enterprises. Earlier in her career, she worked for Progressive Insurance, Cole Vison, and National City Bank.
CHN Housing Partners, formerly Cleveland Housing Network, was founded in 1981. It is a large-scale affordable housing developer and housing service provider that works with its partners to solve major housing challenges for low-income people and underserved communities. CHN’s impact in Cleveland includes 2,500 new homeowners, the housing stability services it provides annually to 30,000 individuals, and the development of 6,000 new homes.
Hunt Real Estate Capital Hires Director
Sloan Stevens has joined Hunt Real Estate Capital as a director. He will focus on closing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac small-balance multifamily loans nationwide. He is based in Birmingham, Ala.
Prior to joining the Hunt, Stevens was a vice president—senior portfolio manager in the special assets group at Cadence Bank. Earlier in his career, he was an independent consultant/investment strategist at Griffin Group Consulting and associate broker at Southspace Properties.
Newmark Knight Frank Add Health-Care and Senior Housing Experts
Commercial real estate advisory firm Newmark Knight Frank has hired health-care and senior housing producers Ryan Maconachy, Chad Lavender, Dave Fasano, Ross Sanders, and Sarah Anderson, who all joined from HFF and are based in Dallas.
Maconachy, vice chairman; Lavender, vice chairman; Fasano, senior managing director; and Sanders, managing director, specialize in investment sales, while Anderson, managing director, focuses on debt and equity.
Bringing over 25 years of combined experience, Lavender and Maconachy have completed over $30 billion in combined health-care-related transactions, while Fasano and Sanders have completed more than $12 billion on behalf of some of the nation’s largest health-care and senior housing owners. Anderson has financed over $7 billion on behalf of some of the nation’s most active industry sponsors.
