NCHMA Annual Meeting (2018)
Speaker Bios
Ben Applegate
Ben Applegate
A founding member of Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, Ben has been actively involved in the development and finance of affordable housing throughout his career. He has significant experience with various federal, state and local loan and grant programs utilized for the rehabilitation or new construction of multi-family housing, including housing for families, the elderly, the homeless and individuals with special needs.
Ben’s practice includes the representation of profit and non-profit developers, syndicators and direct investors involved with projects utilizing the syndication of low-income housing tax credits. He is a frequent speaker throughout the country on the structuring and negotiation of affordable housing development transactions. In 2009, Ben, along with Tom Thorne-Thomsen, was recognized by Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) as one of BPI’s “40 Who’ve Made a Difference” for the people of the Chicago Region.
Terry Barnard
Terry Barnard
Terry Barnard is an affordable housing real estate professional with over 18 years of experience in multifamily mortgage lending, underwriting low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity investments, tax credit allocation, and asset management. Terry has worked for the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) for over 13 years and currently manages the Multifamily Production and Outreach function within the Community Development Division. He also spent nearly 6 years with Enterprise Community Investment in multifamily lending and tax credit syndication. He is an accredited LEED Green Associate.
John Batey
John Batey
Dr. John R. Batey, AICP has served as the Director of Affordable Housing Development for the Wyoming Community Development Authority since October 2016. Dr. Batey possesses over two decades of experience in affordable housing, community and economic development, urban planning, and high-level policy analysis. His previous experience includes positions with the Pueblo (Colorado) Urban Renewal Authority, the State of Colorado Governor’s Office, the Palm Beach County (Florida) Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Broward County (Florida) Housing Finance and Community Development Division. Dr. Batey holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, as well as an MA in Political Science and a Ph.D. in Comparative Studies, both from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Dr. Batey is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and serves on the Urban Land Institute’s Redevelopment and Reuse Product Council since 2014.
Peter Bell
Peter Bell
Peter Bell is President and CEO of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, a 46 year old organization of real estate developers, lenders, equity investors, attorneys, accountants, nonprofit and public officials who are involved in the development, financing and operation of affordable housing under various federal, state and local housing programs. Mr. Bell has served as NH&RA's President and CEO since 1976. Mr. Bell is the owner and publisher of Tax Credit Advisor, a monthly magazine focused on real estate development utilizing various federal tax credits, including the low income housing tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit and the New Markets Tax Credit. Mr. Bell is also executive director of the Telluride Society for Jazz, a Colorado nonprofit organization that hosts the Telluride Jazz Festival, August 4-6 in 2017.
Tyler Borowy
Tyler Borowy
Tyler is a principal at Prior & Associates, a national market study provider and housing research firm. Tyler previously worked for five years with the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute, where he authored or coauthored several reports and research briefs on the topics of reinvesting in blighted communities, evaluating the economic impacts of acquiring and renovating distressed properties through a county land bank program and quantifying the role of recreation on the economy. He holds a master’s degree in Community, Agricultural and Resource Studies from Michigan State University, with a focus on urban planning and natural resource economics.
Patrick Bowen
Patrick Bowen
Patrick M. Bowen, is the President of Bowen National Research, a real estate research and analysis firm based just outside of Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Bowen has written more than 2,000 market studies over the past two decades and has completed multiple Housing Needs Assessments throughout the United States, ranging from small village assessments to larger statewide studies, including assessments of the state of Vermont and Texas. Mr. Bowen currently serves as the Co-Chair of the National Council of Housing Market Analysts, an organization that sets the national standards for housing market studies.
Bud Clarke
Bud Clarke
A.H. (Bud) Clarke, III, MAI joined Boston Financial Investment Management in 1998 where he is a SVP and Director of the Investment Valuation Group. Mr. Clarke is a founding member, and past Chairman, of the National Council of Housing Market Analysts. In 1995 he was awarded the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute where he has served as Chairman on various committees for the Massachusetts-Rhode Island Chapter, and currently serves as Chapter President. Mr. Clarke also possesses a Massachusetts General Certified Appraiser’s License. He has guest lectured at several area universities and continuing education programs, and has provided market analysis training for investor clients and state housing agencies.
In 1991, Mr. Clarke Graduated from the University of New Haven Connecticut (MBA) and in 1984 from Southern Connecticut State University (BS). Prior to joining Boston Financial, Mr. Clarke was employed by Bank of America where he received formal credit training and held a variety of positions including: Portfolio Reporting and Risk Manager; Commercial Real Estate Appraiser; and Corporate Property Manager. Mr. Clarke has over thirty years of experience in the real estate industry and has been published in many industry periodicals and professional journals.
Kimball Crangle
Kimball Crangle
Kimball is the Colorado Market President for Gorman & Company. Since expanding Gorman to the Colorado marketplace in 2014, Ms. Crangle has delivered several mixed-use, urban infill revitalization projects in Metro Denver. She also assisted in a Workforce Housing development recently completed in the Town of Vail and broke ground on a mixed-income and Workforce Housing project in Keystone, Colorado. Ms. Crangle was formerly Senior Developer for Denver Housing Authority, the largest Public Housing Authority in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Region.
While at the Denver Housing Authority, she directed the redevelopment of a 17.5-acre distressed Public Housing site into a nationally-acclaimed mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented community. Focusing on the delivery of energy-responsible buildings that also improved the health of residents, Kimball leveraged over $150 million to accomplish six phases at the site. Kimball is a certified CCIM, active in ULI, and a founding member of All in Denver.
Sarah Garland
Sarah Garland
Sarah Garland is Director of Affordable Housing Debt and Structured Finance for CBRE Affordable Housing, responsible for supporting origination of affordable and workforce housing debt financing. She leads a company initiative to leverage CBRE’s broad originations platform with CBRE Affordable Housing’s deep expertise in the regulated multifamily finance market.
Prior to joining CBRE, Sarah was Senior Vice President for PNC Bank, overseeing FHA Production as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Affordable Multifamily Production. Sarah has also served as Fannie Mae’s National Director of Multifamily Affordable Housing and was responsible for the production and management of all multifamily affordable products
Sarah is a foremost industry specialist in affordable housing finance, and has proved to be a resource for many industry organizations and publications. She was formerly chair of the MBA FHA Committee and Vice-Chair of the MBA Multifamily Steering Committee. She participated in both the Low-Income Housing Task Force and the Workforce Housing Task Force. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from University of California, Los Angeles.
Alison George
Alison George
Alison George is the state director of housing serving the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), Division of Housing (DOH), where she directs all DOH programs, ranging from housing voucher programs and manufactured housing and code regulatory oversight, to Federal and State funding for constructing new affordable housing. Alison brings more than 20 years of experience in affordable housing development and finance. Before joining DOH, Alison served Mercy Housing Colorado as its Regional Vice President of Multifamily Housing, and the Michaels Development Company as its Vice President of Development.
Haley Jordahl
Haley Jordahl
Haley Jordahl is a Housing Development Officer with the Denver Office of Economic Development, where she works to invest the City’s Dedicated Affordable Housing Fund toward the creation and preservation of affordable housing in Denver. Prior to joining the Office of Economic Development, Haley worked in Citigroup’s Public Finance Department, where she underwrote municipal bond issuances for U.S. cities and states. Haley also served as a Fellow in the Mayor’s Office of the City of Chicago, where she focused on affordable housing policy, and oversaw the Clinton Global Initiative’s Working Group on domestic infrastructure financing. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Development from Brown University, and holds a Master’s in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jennifer Kermode
Jennifer Kermode
In May 2017 Jennifer Kermode began her position as the Executive Director of the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority. Prior to this post, she served as the Executive Director of the Summit Combined Housing Authority from 2007 to 2016, and created innovative programs to address their unique housing challenges. Her passion for tackling affordable workforce housing matters in rural and resort communities grew out of a 27-year career in residential mortgage lending, where Jennifer realized the magnitude of positive outcomes people experience when they have good homes to live in.
Robert Lefenfeld
Robert Lefenfeld
Mr. Lefenfeld is the founding principal of Real Property Research Group, Inc., (RPRG) a national market research firm with offices in the Columbia, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. RPRG offers a wide array of real estate market research services including rental housing market research, for sale market analysis, seniors housing studies as well as commercial, economic and fiscal impact analyses.
Mr. Lefenfeld has over 30 years of experience in the field of residential market research. Before founding Real Property Research Group in 2001, Bob served as an officer of research subsidiaries of The Reznick Group accounting firm and Legg Mason. Bob is a founding member of the National Council of Housing Market Analysts (NCHMA), for which he has served as National Chair and currently serves as chair of its FHA Committee. He is also on the adjunct faculty of the Graduate Program in Real Estate Development, School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, University of Maryland College Park and an instructor for the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Multifamily Underwriter Certificate program.
Bob holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts - Political Science; Northeastern University.
James Mann
James Mann
Jim has been a Municipal Advisor with Ehlers’ since 2000 assisting cities, townships, counties, public utilities, school districts, and special districts design and implement financial solutions. In 2018 Jim assumed the role of Principal in the Colorado office, bring his years of experience to the Colorado market. Prior to joining Ehlers, he had 11 years of local government experience including seven years as the Village Administrator for the Village of Slinger, Wisconsin. One of Jim’s greatest contributions to Ehlers and our clients is his ability to facilitate board, councils and commissions through their financing and/or economic development options to arrive at financial solutions that best meet the needs of the client.
Jim holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration & Political Science from University Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Cory Marzullo
Cory Marzullo
Cory Marzullo is a Senior Analyst in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Financial Markets and Community Investment team. Her work at GAO focuses on affordable housing, including the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s voucher and public housing programs. Cory was the lead analyst on GAO’s study that explored LIHTC development costs and cost drivers. Cory joined GAO in 2002. She has a Master in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Boston College. She lives in Denver with her family.
Ron Mehl
Ron Mehl
As Vice President & Project Partner, Ron Mehl is responsible for new project development, acquisitions and financing. In addition, he analyzes new acquisition opportunities, determines project feasibility, oversees design and const ruct ion , partnership restructuring, and negotiations with lenders, investors and third party vendors.
Mr. Mehl has played an integral role developing Dominium's senior housing portfolio. He is involved in the re-syndication of Dominium's existing portfolio of original tax credit projects throughout the Midwest. In 2016, he opened a Dominium Development office in Denver, Co. and is growing the existing Dominium portfolio in a fast paced, growing economy with great attainable housing needs.
In the past, Mr. Mehl has been directly involved with new project development, financing, acquisitions and asset management for a commercial developer. He also worked to support the management of
a $400 million portfolio and assisted in the restructuring of $50 million of debt and $40 million of equity.
Mr. Mehl is a graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Calif. with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a minor in Accounting.
Mr. Mehl is a volunteer with Housing Colorado NOW! and the Colorado annual housing conference , serving on the Workshop Committee. Mr. Mehl also contributes to 3 Hopeful Hearts which provides bereaved parents and families opportunities to honor, find hope and seek healing through events, support, education and remembrance.
Mr. Mehl is a founding contributor to the Dominium Foundation which contributes to important housing and social service organizations in the communities where Dominium operates.
Ryan Moore
Ryan Moore
Ryan Moore, Senior Vice President & Deputy Chief Underwriter for Walker & Dunlop, LLC, has been underwriting FHA loans since late 2009. During this time, he has underwritten and closed more than 65 loans totaling well over $650 Million in FHA insured mortgages including all refinance, new construction and healthcare product types. Mr. Moore was previously employed as a market analyst and appraiser for almost 10 years. During that time, he managed or performed market studies and appraisals on over 700 assignments nationwide for a variety of multifamily and healthcare related product types.
Kelly Murdock
Kelly Murdock
Mr. Murdock is the Managing Partner of Community Research Services, LLC, a housing research and community development consulting firm. For the past twenty-eight years he has provided market reports and studies on single-family developments, apartment complexes, condominium proposals, and senior citizen communities, with clients that have included a wide variety of for-profit firms, nonprofit organizations, as well as
government agencies.
The firm has also provided direction and recommendations to local non-profits and governments in regard to housing policy and strategic planning, as well as technical assistance to eligible organizations. Mr. Murdock has been featured within several published articles on housing research, and has served as a speaker at numerous housing seminars on market-related issues over the past two decades.
Mr. Murdock is a founding member of the National Council of Housing Market Analysts (NCHMA), providing education and direction for housing research professionals across the nation. He currently serves on the council’s executive committee and co-chairs the membership/education committee, as well as the Peer Review committee. He is also a member of the Michigan Housing Council, the first statewide affordable housing
advocacy group in the nation, and previously served on the organization’s board of directors.
A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, he holds a degree in Economics and Business, with a concentration in economic modeling and analysis. He is also a registered football referee/official with the Michigan High School Athletic Association, and is a softball coach at the Swartz Creek Community Schools. He and his wife Jean have been married for 28 years, and have one daughter and two dogs.
Claudia O'Grady
Claudia O'Grady
Claudia O’Grady has been involved in many and varied aspects of affordable multifamily housing throughout her career. As the Executive Director at a small Utah nonprofit organization, she worked on the development of many affordable rental housing projects in communities across the state. After 10 years on the development side, Ms. O’Grady joined Homestead Capital, a syndicator of Low Income Housing Tax Credit investments. For the last 9 years, Ms. O’Grady has served as the Vice President, Multifamily Financing, at Utah Housing Corporation.
Robert Salisbury
Robert Salisbury
Robert Salisbury is a principal at Bonz and Company that provides comprehensive real estate advisory, consulting, and valuation services to financial institutions, public agencies, nonprofit organizations, investors, educational institutions, and developers in New England. Mr. Salisbury has conducted, written and reviewed thousands of appraisals and market studies for market-rate and affordable multifamily properties including LIHTC developments as well as studies for both rental and for-sale senior housing. Mr. Salisbury holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Wisconsin and a Master’s In Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Edward Seiler
Edward Seiler
Edward Seiler, Ph.D. is the VP, Research and Economic Analysis of the Washington D.C.-based Dworbell, Inc., a trade association management firm providing public policy analysis and advocacy. In this capacity, Seiler will lead economic research for the organizations that Dworbell manages, including the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA), the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), and the National Aging in Place Council (NAIPC).
Seiler was previously Chief Housing Economist and Director at Summit Consulting, an analytics firm with expertise in applied economics and mortgage finance. Prior to joining Summit, Dr. Seiler was Director of Economics at Fannie Mae, where he directed the development and implementation of analytical models used to guide credit loss management decisions. He has lectured graduate-level micro-econometrics at Johns Hopkins University and published several peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Seiler was previously employed as a manager at Bates White (an economics litigation consulting firm) and as a post-doctoral fellow at The Hebrew University.
He earned his Ph.D. in economics from The University of Chicago, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.
Doug Snyder
Doug Snyder
Doug Snyder joined Volunteers of America in 2012 and is a Senior Development Director. He is responsible for development and preservation of affordable housing in Colorado and Alaska. In Colorado, the Volunteers of America portfolio consists of over 1,400 units across 20 properties from the Front Range to the western slope. Doug has over 25 years of underwriting, financing, and developing commercial/multi-family real estate on behalf of for-profit and non-profit groups. His affordable housing experience includes work with Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Tax Exempt Bonds, HUD programs, grants, and other funding sources across senior, family, and homeless projects. He serves on the Housing Colorado Board and has served on the Colorado Housing & Finance Authority Tax Credit Advisory Group. Doug is originally from Pennsylvania, holds a Bachelors in Science in Business from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Masters of Science in Real Estate and Construction Management from the University of Denver.
Ted Toon
Ted Toon
Ted Toon is a professional in housing finance, affordable housing, seniors housing, urban development, sustainability, and residential resilience. He is a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/Federal Housing Administration (FHA). From April – December, 2016, Ted was Senior Policy Advisor to the White House, Office of Management and Budget, Energy and Environment team. From 2012 – 2016, Ted directed HUD’s multifamily mortgage division, with national responsibility for FHA’s $14 billion annual average production of new multifamily housing mortgage insurance. From 2006-2012, he directed HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Preservation/Recapitalization, focused on the rehabilitation, recapitalization, and sustainability of the multifamily portfolio, with programs under his direction including the Mark to Market program, the Green Retrofit Program (a $250 million Recovery Act program), and the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. Prior to joining HUD in February of 2001, Ted was Vice President of ACG Professionals, an Atlanta-based consulting firm specializing in financial analysis, due diligence and underwriting services to the commercial real estate industry. He holds undergraduate degrees in Business, and Environmental Design, from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and earned a Master of Real Estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Ted is also accredited through the US Green Building Council as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) AP (Accredited Professional) in Building Design and Construction.
Ted regularly represents HUD public speaking engagements at conferences, industry groups, academia, and foundations, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Home Builders Association, National Association of Realtors, and Leading Age.
Rob Vogt
Rob Vogt
Robert Vogt is the principal of the real estate market research firm Vogt Strategic Insights (VSI). The firm, based in Columbus, Ohio, is comprised of more than 30 professionals and specializes in providing real estate market feasibility studies and project consulting across the United States. Mr. Vogt has conducted market feasibility studies for the past 35 years. In this time, he has conducted, written and reviewed more than 11,000 market studies for market-rate and affordable Tax Credit apartments, as well as studies for single-family subdivisions, condominiums, mixed-use developments, office, retail space and elderly housing throughout the U.S. Mr. Vogt is a founding member of the National Council of Housing Market Analysts, an association formed to bring standards and professional practices to real estate market feasibility. He is a past chairman of this association. Mr. Vogt is a member of the Columbus Board of Commission Appeals and a member of the Urban Land Institute. Mr. Vogt has a degree in Finance, Real Estate and Urban Land Economics from The Ohio State University.
Dee Walsh
Dee Walsh
Dee Walsh serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Officer of Strategic Development for Mercy Housing, Inc., a national developer, owner and manager of affordable housing. At Mercy, Dee oversees the regional business centers and the Mercy Loan Fund.
Walsh joined Mercy Housing following her work as the Chief Operating Officer at Network for Oregon Affordable Housing (NOAH), where she managed operations, lending, communications and strategic plan implementation. While there, Walsh raised nearly $30 million in new capital to fuel the organization’s affordable housing lending. Before NOAH, Walsh served as the Executive Vice President for Network and Corporate Affairs for Housing Partnership Network—leading domestic and international peer learning among HPN’s members to advance housing development practices. As REACH Community Development’s Executive Director for 22 years, Dee directed the organization’s housing development and property management work, and created nationally recognized resident services and neighborhood revitalization programs.
Walsh holds a Certificate in Achieving Excellence in Community Development from Harvard University, and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from University of Washington. Dee was an adjunct professor at the Center for Real Estate Development at Portland State University and is the co-author of the book, Navigating Community Development.
Natasha Weaver
Natasha Weaver
Tasha Weaver, Manager of Colorado Housing and Finance Authority's (CHFA’s) Tax Credit Program, has over 20 years of Low Income Housing Tax Credit program experience. She served as the Manager of Program Compliance for many years at CHFA and has taught numerous tax credit classes and workshops. Prior to joining CHFA, Ms. Weaver worked for a Denver property management firm managing conventional and affordable housing as well as commercial real estate.
Cris White
Cris White
Cris has been with Colorado Housing and Finance Authority for 30 years serving in various capacities related to affordable housing and economic development. He has served since 2010 as the Executive Director and CEO.
In its 44-year history, CHFA has invested more than $16.7 billion to support affordable housing and community development throughout Colorado. In that time, CHFA’s resources have helped more than 103,000 Coloradans achieve their dreams of homeownership, over 66,000 affordable rental housing units be developed or preserved, and provided homebuyer education to over 134,000 households. CHFA has also provided financing to over 5,000 small businesses which have created or retained more than 63,000 jobs.
Cris has served on the Executive Committee of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, Mayor Hickenlooper’s and Mayor Hancock’s Denver Housing Plan Task Forces, and the Colorado Legislature’s Long-term Fiscal Stability Commission. He most recently served as Chair of the Board of Directors for Housing Colorado, the Denver Regional Council of Government’s SCI Executive Committee, and Mercy Housing’s Regional Board of Advisors. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Council of State Housing Agencies, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Community Advisory Board, and Denver’s Housing Advisory Committee.
Cris earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Business from Regis University in 1988.
Stefanie Williams
Stefanie Williams
Ms. Williams is the project manager for all of Laurin Associates market feasibility studies, completing over 60 studies a year. She is a certified market analyst and has extensive experience with the specific requirements of the various funding agencies, including California Department of Housing and Community Development, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, California Debt Limit Allocation Committee, CalHFA, USDA, and HUD. Additionally, Ms. Williams has substantial experience writing and administering CDBG grant applications, and preparing housing conditions studies and income surveys. Ms. Williams graduated in 2002 from California State University, Sacramento, with a degree in Communication Studies.