Gary M. Buechler, president of The Michaels Development Company(MDC), announced today that Kenneth Crawford has joined the company in the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer. Michaels Development Company is the nation’s number-one private-sector owner of affordable housing and one of most active developers of affordable and mixed-income housing across the country.

“We are excited to have Ken join our leadership team as we continue to scale up to meet the demands of our growing pipeline, capitalize on new opportunities, and deliver the absolute best-quality affordable and mixed-income communities to our residents,” said Buechler.

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, Ken 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.

Ken comes to 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, a nationwide affordable housing organization.  Earlier in his career, Ken managed  tax credit investing at M&T Bank (and its predecessors) and served in various capacities within the Commercial Real Estate Finance Group. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder and served as Captain in the United States Army – Field Artillery

“We are at a moment of tremendous opportunity for our company to build on its long track record of success, increase our geographic footprint, explore new product types and lay the foundation for robust and sustained future growth,” said Buechler. “Ken’s addition to our team, as well as the promotions of many teammates who have been with us for years, ensures that we are  operationally stronger and ready to meet the urgent need for affordable and moderately-priced housing,” he said.

PROMOTIONS 

Ann O’Shea has been named Senior Vice President of Finance. Ann 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 RAD 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.