Affordable Housing Finance, Development, and Policy Exchange
Speakers
Buwa Binitie
Buwa Binitie
As Managing Principal of Dantes Partners, Mr. Binitie directs the acquisition, development, management and financial activities of the firm. Mr. Binitie has an extensive tax credit financing experience (LIHTC, NMTC and HTC) and has closed on financing from nearly every public capital source available including HOME, HPTF, NSP,
CDBG and NIF. Mr. Binitie maintains a narrow focus on creatively structuring deals that strive to address the need of his clients, community stakeholders as well as various government agency partners. By narrowly focusing on efficiently financing community development transactions, Mr. Binitie has been successful in adding value beyond the numbers. Mr. Binitie’s career is underscored by a commitment to creating and preserving affordable and workforce housing. To this end, Since founding Dantes Partners, Mr. Binitie and his team have closed over $300 million of unconventional real estate transactions that utilize low-income tax credits, new market tax credits, tax-exempt bonds and a various other forms of alternative financing. These efforts have lead to the creation of over 1000 units of workforce and affordable housing. Mr. Binitie speaks regularly at industry focused events. Recent engagements include sessions with The Minority Resource, African-American Real Estate Professionals, Biz Now, DC Building Industry Association, Georgetown University, University of Maryland – Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development and the Howard University Real Estate Club.
JD Bondurant
JD Bondurant
J.D. Bondurant is the Director of Tax Credit Programs for the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA), responsible for the establishment of short and long-term program strategies while developing, directing, and supporting all allocation activities related to Virginia’s Low Income Housing Tax (LIHTC) Program. J.D. has worked in support of VHDA’s strategic and operational planning, as well as state inter-agency housing policy and planning initiatives, for well over a decade. J.D. has a bachelor’s degree from Emory and Henry College and a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
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.
Holly Bray
Holly Bray
Ms. Bray joined Love Funding’s Washington, D.C., office in 2008. In her current capacity as senior director she is responsible for loan origination and focuses on financing apartments, nursing homes and assisted living facilities including affordable transactions with low-income housing tax credits and substantial rehabilitation transactions with historic tax credits.
Ms. Bray has over 25 years of experience in the financial industry. She possesses an extensive background in underwriting, sales and secondary marketing, and loan origination. Before joining Love Funding, she served as a director with Wachovia Multifamily Capital Inc., where she was responsible for originating construction and permanent loans for multihousing projects. Her prior background experience also includes serving as director of FHA Finance for AMI Capital Inc. and as vice president with WMF/Huntoon Paige.
Ms. Bray currently serves on the board of NH&RA and as chair of the Arlington County (Virginia) Housing Commission.
Ms. Bray received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Gordon College. She also frequently participates in industry-related training seminars and conferences on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD Multifamily Accelerated Processing.
Orlando J. Cabrera
Orlando J. Cabrera
Orlando Cabrera advises clients including financial institutions, investors, syndicators, developers, public housing authorities, housing
finance agencies, community development agencies, cities and counties on successfully navigating complex affordable housing
matters. Mr. Cabrera has significant experience with United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulatory
matters (including Native American housing issues), housing finance agency issues, low-income housing tax credits, private activity bonds,
debt financing, non-federal state financing programs, tribal financing programs, and general real estate.
After his Senate confirmation in late 2005, he served as Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing at HUD until 2008. As Assistant
Secretary, Mr. Cabrera oversaw the administration of a US$24 billion program, which included public housing, Section 8 vouchers,
moderate rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) and most federal housing programs for Native American tribes nationwide. He is one of three
recipients of the Office of Inspector General’s Golden Eagle Award for Public Integrity.
Prior to his role at HUD, Mr. Cabrera served as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation,
the nation’s fourth largest housing finance agency, where he developed policies for managing the allocation of the low-income housing tax
credit, private activity bonds, HOME Investment Partnership Fund, State Housing Trust Fund and Local Government Housing Trust Fund.
During his tenure at Florida Housing, he also served on the Board of the National Council of State Housing Agencies.
Mr. Cabrera’s prior experience includes serving as the president and chief executive officer of a major affordable housing developer that
operated in six states where he led the company through the 2008 economic downturn and planned, disposed of, financed, constructed or
rehabilitated approximately 2,200 affordable housing units.
Mr. Cabrera also has extensive experience in the area of disaster recovery, having worked closely through more than a dozen natural
disasters with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and various state disaster recovery agencies during his time at HUD and
Florida Housing.
Prior to heading Florida Housing, Mr. Cabrera was the chair and vice chair of Florida Housing’s Board of Directors and a partner in the real
estate department of a major Florida-based law firm. He has acted as developer’s, investor’s or lender’s counsel for hundreds of real estate
transactions throughout his career. Mr. Cabrera has extensive experience in most areas of real estate law including airport, office,
commercial, and single and multifamily residential development.
He has been a frequent speaker and presenter before various committees in the United States Congress, the Florida legislature, many
state and local governments, and many affordable housing and real estate industry trade groups. He has served, and still serves, on the
board of directors for a variety of industry-related groups.
Representative Experience
Successfully advised affordable housing developers involved in criminal and civil actions undertaken by the United States Department of
Justice and United States Attorneys in various Districts
Successfully advised project based contract administrators seeking to compel the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) to comply with federal procurement law and keep HUD from unlawfully awarding PBCA contracts
Emily Cadik
Emily Cadik
Emily Cadik is the Director of Public Policy at Enterprise Community Partners, where she leads policy and advocacy related to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, New Markets Tax Credit and rental assistance programs. She helps to lead the A Call To Invest in Our Neighborhoods (ACTION) Campaign, the nationwide coalition of more than 2,000 organizations and businesses advocating on behalf of the Housing Credit, serves on the board of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, and was named one of Affordable Housing Finance's 2016 Young Leaders. Prior to joining Enterprise in 2012, she was a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she served as a program coordinator for the Moving to Work demonstration and in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Ivy Dench-Carter
Ivy Dench-Carter
As Regional Vice President, Ivy is responsible for all phases of Pennrose’s development projects in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington D.C. Ivy brings nearly 30 years of management and real estate development experience to the role, with expertise in stand-alone affordable housing development deals, affordable housing preservation, HOPE VI development, complex mixed-income, mixed finance, and multi-phase redevelopment projects.
Ivy started her career at Pennrose Management Company in 1990 as a Property Manager for two properties before earning a promotion to Regional Property Manager, which gave her oversight of 21 affordable housing properties. In 1995, Ivy joined Pennrose Properties, expanding her career into the arena of affordable housing development.
Ivy currently serves as President of the Maryland Affordable Housing Commission and is on the Board of Directors of Anne Arundel County Affordable Housing Coalition. She is an active member of the community and a recent graduate of Leadership Maryland, an independent statewide program designed to expand the capacity of Maryland’s leaders. Ivy attended Spelman College in Atlanta, GA.
Adam Diehl
Adam Diehl
Adam Diehl is a vice president at Lancaster Pollard, a national investment
banking and financial services firm based in Columbus, Ohio. Lancaster Pollard specializes in providing capital funding to the senior living, health care and affordable housing sectors.
In addition to underwriting tax-exempt bond offerings, Lancaster Pollard provides a complete range of funding alternatives through its HUD-FHA/GNMA/FNMA/USDA-approved, mortgage lender subsidiary. It can also provide bridge-to-agency lending, private equity, balance sheet lending and M&A services. Mr. Diehl is the client’s primary point of contact for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions and is responsible for helping clients evaluate their options, in addition to all underwriting and closing details.
Since joining the firm in 2009, Mr. Diehl has focused his efforts on affordable and market-rate housing, providing client guidance and support on a range of mortgage loans for rehabilitations, new construction and refinance projects totaling in excess of $380 million. His thorough understanding of, and experience with, financing programs, such as Fannie Mae, FHA, USDA and low-incomehousing tax credits have allowed him to creatively combine financing options to achieve the most cost-effective outcome for non-profit developers, for-profit affordable housing developers and market rate housing providers on capital structures and financing.
Mr. Diehl received his Bachelor’s in Finance with a minor in Economics
from The Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. He holds
a Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, Series 65, the Municipal
Securities Representative, Series 52 and the Investment Banking Representative Examination, Series 79.
Polly Donaldson
Polly Donaldson
Polly Donaldson has served as the Director of the Washington, DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), since January 2, 2015. As Director, she oversees 180 employees and 14 program areas, as well as the Office of the General Counsel, the Administrative Office, and Office of Communications and Community Outreach. She also manages an operating budget of over $250 million dollars to preserve and create rental and homeownership opportunities for District residents and lead the charge of revitalizing underserved neighborhoods.
Donaldson is no stranger to the world of affordable housing, and will be the first to tell you that housing is her passion–especially affordable housing. Her career in the nonprofit arena spans over 27 years, with senior management experience in homeless and affordable housing and international community development serving at organizations such as at the Institute of International Education, Partners of the Americas and The Center for Democracy.
Prior to joining DHCD, Donaldson served as the Executive Director of the Transitional Housing Corporation (THC) for over ten years and THC Affordable Housing, Inc., since its founding in June 2005. Under Donaldson’s leadership, THC was on the front lines addressing the city’s housing crunch, working with churches, charities and other nonprofit groups to produce and support affordable units for the formerly homeless. One of her signature achievements included increasing the number of homeless families served annually from 40 families to over 500, which included transitional housing for families coming out of shelters and “housing first” units for chronically homeless families with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues. She also oversaw the organization’s strategy to develop mixed-income permanent affordable housing.
The Director is well-known in DC affordable housing circles and has had great influence throughout the city. Donaldson was nominated by former Mayor Adrian Fenty and confirmed to serve on the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness and chaired the Permanent Supportive Housing Production Committee in 2009 and was re-appointed by former Mayor Vincent C. Gray in 2013. She is the former board president of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, an umbrella group of city affordable housing developers. In 2012, she also served on the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force assembled by former Mayor Gray. In 2014, Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser, named Donaldson as the co-chair of the Transition Team’s Affordable Housing Committee. In addition to her duties as Director of DHCD, Donaldson is currently serving as the chair of the Mayor Bowser’s Affordable Housing Preservation Strike Force.
“Polly has more than two decades of experience overseeing and managing affordable housing and homeless service programs. She is a smart, committed public servant who has what it takes to help give the residents of the District of Columbia a fresh start,” said Mayor Bowser.
Donaldson has lived in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood in Ward 1 for over 23 years. In the late 1990’s, she was elected and served as the chair of the Mt. Pleasant Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1-E. She resides with her wife, Susan Rees, and daughter, Florence, and is an active member of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church at Dupont Circle. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral science from The Johns Hopkins University.
David Doray
David Doray
As the Manager of Multifamily Underwriting in the Development Division at the Pennsylvania Housing Financing Agency, Dave is responsible for overseeing and managing the Agency’s multifamily housing loan programs. Over the past 25 years Dave has worked in various positions in the Development Division at PHFA. He was originally hired as a Real Estate Analyst in 1992 and was moved to Underwriter 1998. He was promoted to his current position in 2015.
Before joining the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, Dave was a Loan Review Officer for First Maryland Bank.
Dave earned his Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in Finance as well as his Master of Business Administration degree from the Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
Susan Eliason
Susan Eliason
Susan Eliason has been the Director of Housing Development for the Delaware State Housing Authority since 2011. Housing Development is responsible for the financing, construction, and portfolio management of multifamily rental housing throughout the state of Delaware. Housing Development also manages the federal entitlement programs such as HOME, CDBG, ESG, and HOPWA. Prior to that, Ms. Eliason had been the Housing Asset Management Administrator at DSHA since 2002, where she was responsible for managing the preservation of affordable multifamily rental housing in the Authority’s portfolio. Her section also provided the onsite monitoring of the physical and financial operations of sites receiving project-based Section 8 subsidy. Previously, she was a senior audit specialist with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the Office of Inspector General, working with the acquirers of failed financial institutions.
Susan is an advisor to the board of the Pennsylvania Delaware Affordable Housing Management Association (PennDelAHMA) and has served on panels discussing project-based assistance monitoring, hot topics in affordable housing, and preservation efforts in the region. She was also a presenter at the Consortium of Housing Asset Managers, where she spoke on DSHA’s asset management and preservation efforts. She has been a Certified Housing Asset Manager for nearly 10 years.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC and a master of business administration degree from Wilmington University in Delaware.
James R. Gillespie
James R. Gillespie
Jim Gillespie is Senior Vice President of Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC where he focuses on loan origination and management of developer relationships for the firm. Jim has extensive experience in affordable housing and structuring debt and direct equity investments having worked in these areas for over 20 years. Before joining Bellwether, Jim was Managing Director at Hunt Mortgage Group, a national real estate financial services firm. Prior to Hunt, Jim was founding Managing Director of Red Stone Partners where he helped build and manage their proprietary tax-exempt bond fund(s) and before that, Senior Vice President at Related Companies, a New York based real estate development firm where he was involved in the financing and acquisition of over $2.0 Billion in properties nationwide. Preceding his career in commercial real estate, Jim was a city planner for a public development authority in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jim is active on a number of civic, philanthropic and industry organizations and serves on the boards of NYSAFAH, Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council and National Housing & Rehabilitation Association. Jim holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Hanover College, a Master of Public Administration in Urban and Regional Planning and Development from the University of Louisville, and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University.
David Grubman
David Grubman
David Grubman is a geographical information system manager in the metro Washington, D.C., office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Grubman specializes in demographic analysis for low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) market studies. Mr. Grubman also completes IMPLAN economic analysis to support new markets tax credit (NMTC) development and EB-5 applications. Mr. Grubman has authored several large-scale economic impact studies for lobbying efforts. He also completes rent reasonableness estimators for public housing agencies. He has experience with LIHTC Operating Expense analysis and co-authors Novogradac’s annual Multifamily Rental Housing Operating Expense report. Mr. Grubman also develops Novogradac & Company LLP’s in-house report templates for appraisals and market studies. Mr. Grubman received his bachelor’s degree in geography and a master’s degree in geospatial information sciences from University of Maryland at College Park.
Joseph Hague
Joseph Hague
Mr. Hague joined RED Capital Markets, LLC in January 2007. Mr. Hague specializes in structuring tax-exempt, FHA, and Fannie Mae debt financings for affordable housing transactions. Mr. Hague has worked with and advised local housing authorities, non-profit developers and for-profit housing developers on capital structures and financings. Prior to joining RED, Mr. Hague worked as a Financial Analyst in National City's Commercial Banking Development Program. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Ohio University where he majored in Accounting and Finance.
Matthew Heckles
Matthew Heckles
Matthew Heckles joined the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development in September 2016 as Assistant Secretary of the Division of Development Finance and Director of the Community Development Administration. In this capacity, Mr. Heckles oversees the Department's single family mortgage, affordable rental housing financing, rental housing subsidy administration, special loan, energy, and small business lending programs. Prior to joining the department, Mr. Heckles served in state government in Delaware for more than fifteen years. Twelve of these years were spent serving in several roles at the Delaware State Housing Authority including as the Director of Policy and Planning and as the Director of Housing Finance. Mr. Heckles holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and International Relations and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Delaware. He brings a wealth of experience to his role as CDA Director, including program administration, mortgage financing, bond financing, policy development, legislative advocacy, strategic planning, community redevelopment, and contract administration.
Ellen Lurie Hoffman
Ellen Lurie Hoffman
Ellen Lurie Hoffman joined the National Housing Trust in May 2014 as the Federal Policy Director. NHT is a national leader in preserving and improving affordable housing, ensuring that privately owned rental housing remains in our affordable housing stock and is sustainable over time. Ms. Lurie Hoffman is responsible for federal housing policy spanning the HUD Budget, maintaining and improving the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, fair housing, and housing finance reform. She represents the Trust before congressional staff, federal officials, and other housing advocates and stakeholders. Ms. Lurie Hoffman facilitates the national Preservation Working Group, a coalition of over 40 nonprofit organizations dedicated to the preservation of affordable rental housing;
Prior to joining the trust, Ms. Lurie Hoffman worked for the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) for nine years, where she analyzed and advocated for federal multifamily housing policy issues on behalf of the nation's state Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs). NCSHA is the leading national nonprofit organization created by state HFAs to coordinate and leverage their federal advocacy efforts for affordable housing. Ms. Lurie Hoffman led NCSHA's legislative campaign to advocate for congressional authorization of Ginnie Mae securitization within the FHA-HFA Risk-Sharing program. Ms. Lurie Hoffman has been engaged on the HUD budget, housing finance reform, HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), and FHA and USDA multifamily programs. She also promoted a primary role for state agencies in the Section 8 Performance-Based Contract Administration (PBCA) program with HUD and Congress.
Ms. Lurie Hoffman holds a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Vassar College.
Erik Hoffman
Erik Hoffman
Erik Hoffman focuses on multifamily housing and economic development and represents for-profit and nonprofit developers. Erik's practice includes acquisition-rehabilitation and new construction of apartment complexes and revitalization projects financed with fixed rate and "low floater" private activity bonds, tax increment financing, private loans and debt assumptions, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Historic Preservation Credits, New Markets Tax Credits, and other equity participations. He often structures deals with multiple layers of funding, including mezzanine and subordinate debt from a variety of sources, such as private lenders, state pension funds, HOME and Community Development Block Grants, Section 108 securitizations, and local housing trust funds. Erik has worked on portfolio acquisitions, bond debt assumptions, new money financings in public underwritings and private placements.
Before joining the firm, Erik was Counsel with the firm Bingham McCutchen, where he represented a wide variety of developers, underwriters, lenders, and syndicators on multifamily housing and economic development transactions. Previously, Erik served as the Director of Real Estate Finance and Grants for Fairfax County's affordable housing and economic development programs. In that role, Erik established and managed many of the financing programs the County uses to preserve and create affordable housing. He was an Associate General Counsel to the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency and worked on the agency's multifamily housing revenue bond transactions. In addition, he was an associate with the firm of Hunton & Williams, where he served as outside counsel to the District of Columbia Revenue Bond Program on their 501(c)(3) financings, Enterprise Zone and Qualified Zone Academy Bond transactions.
Priya Jayachandran
Priya Jayachandran
Priya Jayachandran is the Senior Vice President of Affordable Housing Development at Volunteers of America. She manages the strategic direction and development of affordable rental housing and leads the development, acquisition and/or recapitalization of housing and other real estate projects nationwide. Priya came to Volunteers of America from HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs, which she joined in September 2014 as a Senior Policy Advisor to help FHA's work with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. In December of the same year, she also assumed Acting Directorship of the Program Administration Office, Multifamily's front office. Most recently, in December of 2015, she stepped in to the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs.
Prior to joining HUD, Priya spent over 15 years in community development real estate banking in New York and Washington, DC. During that time, she led teams delivering debt and tax credit equity, Historic Tax Credits and New Markets Tax Credits for real estate developers of affordable housing and charter schools. Under Priya's leadership, the Mid-Atlantic market at both Citi and Bank of America were the top production offices in the country. Priya is a recognized industry expert on affordable finance deal structuring. Priya has also worked for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in La Paz, Bolivia as a consultant to women’s microcredit organizations; Credit Suisse as an investment banking analyst; and California State Treasurer Kathleen Brown as a Capital Fellow. Priya earned her BA from the University of California and her MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
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.
David Leopold
David Leopold
David Leopold is Freddie Mac’s Vice President for Target Affordable Production and Investments for the multifamily business. He is responsible for approximately $5 billion in annual production including all relationships and transactions involving targeted affordable lenders, borrowers, and tax credit syndicators. He is also the lead contact with housing finance agencies, municipalities, and community-based organizations for Freddie Mac Multifamily’s affordable housing and community development products and services.
Prior to joining Freddie Mac in 2015 David led Tax Credit Equity Origination for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where his team produced $1.2 billion in annual equity investments in Low-Income, Historic, and New Markets Tax Credits. Prior to that he managed Bank of America’s Community Development Lending platform, where he was responsible for $1.6 billion in annual loan originations and a portfolio of $4 billion in real estate secured assets. David’s experience also includes municipal bond financing, loan and tax credit syndication, structured debt products, and public policy related to economic and community development.
David has undergraduate and graduate degrees with honors from Fordham University and the University of Colorado respectively. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and on the Board of Directors of Enterprise Community Investments, a national real estate investment firm focused on affordable housing and community development. He also serves on the Board and Executive Committee of the Lisner Home, a Washington, DC non-profit providing affordable assisted living and skilled nursing to very low-income seniors. David lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.
Mark S. McDaniel
Mark S. McDaniel
Mark S. McDaniel is President and CEO of Cinnaire (formerly Great Lakes Capital Fund), a Community Development Finance Organization with offices in Lansing, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Delaware. Mark received his B.S. in Urban Planning from Michigan State University in 1977 and has over 30 years of experience in the areas of affordable housing, community development, urban planning and market research. In Mark’s professional career formerly served as Vice President and President of a major development company in Michigan, and as Director of Development for a statewide nonprofit housing corporation. Since Cinnaire’s inception in 1993, with Mark at its helm, the organization has committed over $3.5 billion of loans and equity for affordable housing and community development efforts. Mark has strategically diversified the organization to provide access to permanent debt financing, construction lending, technical assistance, predevelopment lending, youth leadership training, and title services. As a result, Cinnaire is recognized by the United States Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution. Cinnaire is also recognized nationally as one of the top nonprofits in the country and has been named by The NonProfit Times as a Top 50 nonprofit to work for and Crain’s Detroit Business as one of the Cool Places to Work for in Michigan.
Mark’s expertise has been tapped by many affiliate organizations of the affordable housing, development, and financial industries. Mr. McDaniel has served on the Board of Directors of a number of nonprofit organizations which advocate on behalf of affordable housing. Mark’s appointments include: Michigan Housing Council (current President), National Association of State and Local Equity Funds (past President); Fifth Third Bank’s Community Advisory Forum (Board Member); Habitat for Humanity of MI (Board Member); Michigan Magnet Fund (Treasurer); Art of Leadership Foundation (Vice Chair); Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (Board Member); Corporation for Supportive Housing State Advisory Committee (Member); National City Community Development Association (Board Member); Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis Affordable Housing Council (former Chairman and Board Member), Children’s Trust Fund (Board of Directors), Michigan State University Urban Planning Alumni Advisory Board (Member), and the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (Board Member).
Mark has been the recipient of numerous business and civic awards over the course of his career. In 2004 he was the recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Greater Lansing Business Monthly and in 2008, the Governors Corporate Service Award. In 2011, he was awarded the Michigan Habitat for Humanity’s Bernice Bensen Award for his long service and commitment to Habitat for Humanity. He received the prestigious Terry R. Duvernay Award recognizing lifetime achievements of leaders in the affordable housing industry in 2013. In 2016, he was awarded the Children's Advocate Award by the Children’s Trust Fund and in 2017, he was inducted into Affordable Housing Finance Hall of Fame. Mark was honored in 2018 by the Greater Lansing Martin Luther King Commission with the Mark McDaniel Legacy Scholarships in recognition of his commitment to helping others and his support of the community.
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.
Kent Neumann
Kent Neumann
Kent Neumann has been in the affordable housing and healthcare business for almost 20 years. Mr. Neumann has served as underwriter’s counsel, purchaser’s counsel, bond counsel, lender’s counsel and borrower’s counsel and has also advised issuers and other clients on the legal and financial aspects of a wide range of tax-exempt and taxable financings around the country. These include publicly offered and privately placed financings using credit enhancement provided by FHA, Ginnie Mae (GNMA), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Bank, municipal bond insurance, bank letters of credit, insurance company guaranties, as well as unrated and/or uncredit-enhanced bond deals. Many of these transactions have involved multiple-tier financings utilizing senior/subordinated and other complex structures designed to achieve optimal efficiency and savings. These include “50% test” and cash-collateralized bonds as well as loans from Rural Development and HUD / FHA under various programs including 515, 538, 202, 221, 223, 236, 242, Section 8, HOPE VI, etc.
Mr. Neumann has been one of the most innovating attorneys in his field creating and developing many of the financial structured used today in both housing and healthcare industries. Many of these structures have created millions of dollars in savings while simultaneously providing efficiency in the execution. In addition, Mr. Neumann has a unique level of experience in and knowledge of cashflow modeling, rating agency requirements, credit enhancement programs, financial structures and other critical variables affecting bond financings.
Mr. Neumann graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, San Diego, where he received a B.A. degree in Psychology in 1995. He graduated magna cum laude from Tulane Law School in May of 1998 and is a member of both the California and the District of Columbia Bars. He is also a member of the American Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers.
Neal Rackleff
Neal Rackleff
Mr. Rackleff was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 2017 to serve as Assistant Secretary for the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development. CPD is responsible for administering grants to alleviate homelessness and to help communities finance growth and development. In addition, CPD also seeks to develop viable communities by promoting integrated approaches that provide quality affordable housing, and expand economic opportunities for low and moderate-income persons. The CPD division within HUD administers various grant programs which help communities plan and finance their growth and development, increase their capacity to govern, and provide shelter and services for low to moderate income persons. CPD oversees the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS), as well other grant offices within CPD. Additionally, CDBG Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding is administered through CPD.
Prior to assuming his current role as Assistant Secretary with HUD, Mr. Rackleff was a Partner at Locke Lord, a nationally recognized law firm, where he focused his practice on community and economic development, affordable housing, and inner-city revitalization. Prior to his tenure with Locke Lord, he previously served as Director of the City of Houston's Housing and Community Development Department. During his Houston tenure, the Department financed production of approximately 10,000 high-quality affordable multifamily housing units and assisted 1,700 single-family homeowners with reconstruction of hurricane damaged homes, financial assistance to low-income homebuyers and emergency home repairs to ameliorate health and safety issues. Additionally, during this period, Houston became the first major city to effectively end Veteran’s homelessness; while chronic homelessness declined over 70%. Key revitalization projects Mr. Rackleff led include developing a grocery store in a food desert and the historic preservation and conversion of a blighted office building into the new JW Marriott Houston Downtown hotel. Mr. Rackleff graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University and received his law degree from the University of Southern California.
Carmen Romero
Carmen Romero
Carmen Romero is the Vice President of APAH’s Real Estate Development group. In this role, she oversees the development efforts of APAH’s portfolio including the entitlements and transaction structuring for developments throughout the County, in areas such as the Rosslyn-Ballston Metro and Columbia Pike Corridors. The Springs Apartments, which opened in October of 2016, transformed a former 27-unit building into a five-story, 104-unit building, additionally housing APAH’s new headquarters.
In February 2015, APAH secured county use permit approval and funding for 229 units on Columbia Pike for development of Columbia Hills (a hybrid 4%/9% tax credit transaction) which is now under construction and scheduled to deliver in 2018. For the past three years, Carmen has also led a public-private partnership with a faith based organization to redevelop a church site into 173 units of affordable housing combined with ground floor retail. This project is also under construction and scheduled to open in 2019. Additionally, in 2017, APAH received unanimous County Board approval for rezoning of the Queens Court site in Rosslyn, featuring 249 new units within walking distance to two metro stops. Carmen leads APAH’s efforts to purchase existing multi-family properties, such as APAH’s purchase of Arna Valley View apartments from Avalon Bay in February 2014 and eight small garden apartment buildings in Westover in 2016.
Prior to joining APAH in March 2011, Carmen was a Director at Edgemoor Real Estate Services, a real estate development and public-private partnership group within Clark Construction. Carmen started her career in Marriott International where she coordinated the company’s long range planning process.
She received her MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. She has been an Arlington resident since 1997 and is a former Board Member of the Arlington County Industrial Development Authority. Carmen is a current board member of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) and a member of the VHDA Multi-Family Advisory Council.
John B. Rucker III
John B. Rucker III
Mr. Rucker has been an investment banker since 1977. Mr. Rucker graduated from The University of Mississippi in 1973 and The University of Mississippi School of Law in 1976 and is a member of the Alabama and Mississippi Bar Association. Mr. Rucker was a founding partner of Merchant Capital, L.L.C. In January of 2015, Merchant Capital merged with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated. He manages the firm’s affordable housing business and has a very active national practice. Through his leadership Stifel has become the leading affordable housing bond underwriter in the country, ranking number one nationally the last four years in the number of negotiated multi-family bond issues closed in the country.
Mr. Rucker is a regular speaker at various Affordable Housing conferences throughout the country. He has recently served on panels and spoken at conferences including The American Bar Association, Cohn Reznick, AHF Live, Novogradac and numerous State Housing Coalition functions, including Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. His relationships in the industry include private developers, 501(c) 3 corporations, issuers, tax-credit syndicators and many others who are actively engaged in affordable housing.
He has been a member of Fannie Mae’s Southeast Regional Housing Advisory Council and Fannie Mae’s National Housing Impact Advisory Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association. Mr. Rucker is also a registered municipal advisor.
In addition, Mr. Rucker is on the Board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and serves on the Bank’s Credit and Member Services, Governance and Compensation, and is Vice Chair of Housing and Community Investment Committee.
John Schoenecker
John Schoenecker
John Schoenecker is a staff Tax Counsel at the House Ways and Means Committee and works on issues related to the individual, business, and estate taxes. Before joining the Committee staff, he was a Trial Attorney with the Department of Justice’s Tax Division where he spent the better part of eight years litigating against corporate tax shelters. He attended Northwestern University for both college and law school and was a member of the Law Review. He is a native of Washington D.C. and lives in Arlington with his wife and very loquacious three-year-old daughter.
Bob Simpson
Bob Simpson
Bob is responsible for managing Fannie Mae’s Multifamily Affordable and Green Finance Business.
Since 2007, Simpson has held various officer positions throughout Fannie Mae’s Multifamily Mortgage Business including Priority Borrower Relationships, Seniors Housing, Small Loans, and Structured Finance. He has also served as Fannie Mae’s Vice President of Community Lending and Development where he was responsible for strategic initiatives and investments in underserved Rural, Native American, and Gulf Coast Recovery markets.
Before joining Fannie Mae in 2000, Simpson served for seven years as a legislative aide to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
Bob is currently a member of the Affordable Workforce Housing Council for the Urban Land Institute, the Workforce Housing Subcommittee of the National Multi-Housing Council and the University of South Dakota Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He previously served as a board member of Mercy Housing, the Sioux Falls Homeless Coalition, and as a member of Governor’s Special Task Force on K-12 Education in South Dakota.
Simpson graduated from the University of South Dakota.
Christopher Tawa
Christopher Tawa
Christopher Tawa works as a consultant to lenders which participate in the government-backed multifamily finance programs, and to state and federal housing agencies, on business strategies, lending programs, housing policy and regulatory issues.
From March 2012 to May 2016, Mr. Tawa worked at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Housing and Regulatory Policy as head of multifamily policy for the Regulator and Conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In that role Mr. Tawa advised on all aspects of multifamily policy and strategy and oversaw the Enterprises’ multifamily business operations. He led the rewrite of the 2015 – 2017 multifamily affordable housing goals regulation, development of the multifamily directives within the proposed Duty to Serve implementing regulation and the agency response to multifamily housing finance reform issues.
For over 2½ years before joining FHFA, Mr. Tawa was Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs at HUD Headquarters in Washington, DC. In that role he served as principal advisor on finance and policy issues affecting the FHA multifamily insurance programs and was responsible for providing advice on programmatic and organizational issues regarding the MAP lending program.
For over 5 years before joining FHA, Mr. Tawa was Senior Vice President for the Affordable Debt Group at MMA Financial (n/k/a JLL Multifamily Lending). MMA was then the highest volume equity investor and debt provider for Low Income Housing Tax Credit properties in the country and Mr. Tawa was head of loan originations using Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA credit enhanced and private placement tax exempt bonds for affordable housing transactions nationwide. For over 3 years before joining MMA, Mr. Tawa was Principal and head of Specialized Lending Products at Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Mortgage Capital division (n/k/a Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital). His group originated loans for affordable and seniors housing properties using Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other capital sources. For the prior 3 years, Mr. Tawa was Senior Managing Director for Affordable Housing Debt at Banc One Capital Funding (n/k/a Red Mortgage Capital).
From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Tawa was the National Director of Multifamily Targeted Affordable Housing at Fannie Mae in Washington, DC where he managed the development and implementation of national debt products for financing multifamily affordable housing properties and was responsible for helping meet annual affordable housing lending goals. Prior to Fannie Mae, Mr. Tawa had been with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Community Development Administration, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Communities and Development.
Mr. Tawa graduated from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (MPA, 1987), Northeastern University School of Law (Juris Doctor, 1979), and the University of Massachusetts at Boston (BA, Magna Cum Laude, 1976).
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.
Paul Weissman
Paul Weissman
Paul J. Weissman is Senior Managing Director and Head of Affordable Housing Finance at Hunt Mortgage Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunt Companies.
Mr. Weissman has nearly twenty years of experience in multifamily housing. His experience includes development, tax credit syndication, lending and investment banking. He has been involved in the development and financing of over $3 billion in multifamily transactions over the course of his career including transactions involving nearly every form of assistance available to affordable housing projects. He has experience with tax exempt bond financing, 8 subsidies, 202 and 236 subsidies, low income housing tax credits, HOPE VI, the FHA tax credit pilot program, the Rental Assistance Demonstration program and many others on affordable communities stretching from Connecticut to Hawaii. Prior to joining Hunt Mortgage Group, Paul was a Senior Vice President at Dougherty & Company,
a Director with Credit-Suisse and a Vice President at Newman Capital where he was responsible for the purchase of unrated tax-exempt bonds in highly structured transactions to facilitate the new construction as well as acquisition and rehabilitation of low-income housing tax credit properties. Mr. Weissman began his career in affordable housing as Associate General Counsel for Simpson Housing Limited Partnership.
Mr. Weissman holds an MBA from the Leeds School of Business and a JD from the University of Colorado School of Law.
Stephen Wilson
Stephen Wilson
A founding member and owner of Stratford Capital Group, Mr. Wilson is primarily involved with the management and oversight of Stratford Capital’s property development activities. Prior to forming Stratford Capital, he was a senior member with the Franklin Capital Group where he was primarily responsible for the supervision of development projects. He has a broad development experience managing numerous types of projects that include new construction, moderate and substantial rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of historic structures. Prior to joining Franklin Capital Group in 1997, he served as president of Dulles Real Estate Corporation, a private Washington, D.C. area firm that specialized in commercial real estate and provided general advisory services to its clients, including project feasibility analysis, financing, budgetary review, marketing, development management and leasing and sales. He is an appointed Board Member of the Loudoun County Housing Advisory Board. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and holds an MBA from The George Washington University.