NH&RA Summer Institute (2018)
Speaker Bios
David M. Abromowitz
David M. Abromowitz
David M. Abromowitz is a leader of the affordable housing practice at the law firm Goulston & Storrs PC, where he most recently co-chaired the firm’s real estate group. He is a Chair and board member of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, a co-founder of the Council for Energy Friendly Affordable Housing, and a past chair and founding member of both the Lawyers’ Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness, and the American Bar Association’s Forum Committee on Affordable Housing and Community Development. Charitable boards he serves on include The Equity Trust, and B’nai B’rith New England, and until recently he was a long-time board member of YouthBuild USA, where he now serves as Chief Public Policy Officer.
In January 2008, while serving as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress David wrote the “A Great American Dream Neighborhood Stabilization Fund” proposal, the basis for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program enacted by Congress later in 2008, which has funded nearly $7 billion for communities hard hit by foreclosures. Mr. Abromowitz co-chaired the Housing Policy Working Group of then Governor-elect Deval Patrick (D-MA), and served on the housing advisory task forces of former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and current Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
Jerome A. Breed
Jerome A. Breed
Jerry Breed focuses his practice on tax planning and the structuring of low-income housing tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit, new markets tax credit and renewable energy transactions.
Mr. Breed has closed many low-income housing, historic rehabilitation, new markets tax credit and renewable energy transactions that permit his clients to maximize tax benefits and investment returns, all within the framework of the client's business goals. He has substantial experience in the taxation of community development and new markets credit investments. Mr. Breed also has represented clients with respect to audits of tax credit investments.
Clients of Mr. Breed include syndicators and investors in low-income housing, historic rehabilitation, new markets tax credit and renewable energy transactions as well as developers of these credit projects. In the New Markets Tax Credits area, Mr. Breed represents the owners of qualified active low-income community businesses and community development entities. Mr. Breed also represents state housing authorities that allocate low-income housing tax credits. Frequently, these federal credits include state credits and other federal, state and local subsidies.
Mr. Breed has given presentations at numerous seminars and conferences on the low-income housing, historic rehabilitation, new markets tax credits and renewable energy credits including presentations on partnership taxation, and real estate tax issues. He also is author of a number of articles on tax credits and other federal income tax matters.
Nick Brunick
Nick Brunick
Nick represents developers, investors, and lenders who are building or preserving affordable housing or developing schools, health clinics, and private businesses in order to revitalize and transform communities. He works with a wide variety of public and private financing sources, including federal and state tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, conventional lending sources, various HUD financing tools, tax increment financing, and numerous local, state and federal grant programs.
He also serves as general counsel to a number of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and community development corporations assisting with innovative community development efforts such as small business loan funds, loan programs to assist immigrants to attend medical school, and efforts to increase homeownership and wealth-building in low-income neighborhoods. Nick also assists municipalities and states with policy initiatives and serves on a number of civic boards focused on housing, jobs, and community development.
Prior to joining the firm in 2005, he spent five years, including three as Director of Affordable Housing, at Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), one of the nation’s premier public-interest organizations. While at BPI, Nick was involved in legal, policy and advocacy efforts to create and preserve affordable housing (especially near jobs and opportunity), to revitalize low-income communities and to help working people secure better wages and incomes. Nick lives in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife and four children.
Molly Bryson
Molly Bryson
Molly Bryson is a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP in Washington, D.C., where she serves as Team Leader of the firm's Tax Credits Team. She focuses her practice on providing strategic tax and business advice for projects using federal and state tax credits to finance affordable housing, businesses in low-income communities, historic preservation, and solar energy throughout the U.S. She also regularly advises on tax credit investor exits and tax-exempt issues that can arise with the involvement of nonprofit developers.
Jay Conrad
Jay Conrad
Jay Conrad is a Senior Vice President with BB&T Capital Markets in Richmond, Virginia. Jay is entering his 33rd year of providing Investment Banking and Advisory services to Capital Market clients in the structuring and distribution of tax-exempt and taxable securities. Most recently, Jay’s focus has been on the Affordable Housing and Senior Living sectors as part of the Firm’s Housing Group. In total Mr. Conrad has been involved in the structuring, marketing and underwriting of more than $7.5 billion par amount of municipal securities.
Fred H. Copeman
Fred H. Copeman
Fred Copeman is a Senior Vice-President, Equity Production for Boston Financial Investment Management (BFIM). In this role he is responsible for helping the firm to identify new lines of business and strategic investment opportunities and to represent BFIM on governmental affairs matters. Prior to joining BFIM in 2017, Mr. Copeman spent thirty years in the public accounting business – 23 years with Ernst & Young LLP and seven years with CohnReznick LLP. During his public accounting career, Fred served as a due diligence advisor for corporations reviewing housing credit investments and authored or co-authored twelve studies on the economic performance of housing tax credit properties.
Mr. Copeman graduated with an undergraduate degree in Government from Georgetown University, a Masters in Taxation degree from Bentley University and a Juris Doctorate from the New England School of Law. Fred is a frequent speaker at housing credit industry conferences and serves on the Board of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition.
Lawrence H. Curtis
Lawrence H. Curtis
Lawrence H. Curtis, the President and Managing Partner of WinnDevelopment and member of the Board of Directors of WinnCompanies, has led a full range of real estate development and acquisition activities for more than 29 years. He has been instrumental in helping the company grow from 3,000-units in 1986 to more than 92,000-units, which Winn currently has under management in 23 states.
Mr. Curtis’ primary focus has been on the creation of affordable housing, mixed income housing and historic rehabilitation developments. Under his leadership, WinnDevelopment has transformed historic properties and rehabilitated thousands of units of housing valued at $500 million.
Chris Dischinger
Chris Dischinger
Chris Dischinger is a proven leader within the real estate development
industry and is co-principal and co-founder of LDG Development in
Louisville, KY. He is committed to the business of building better lives
through developing quality, affordable communities for hard-working
families and active seniors to grow and thrive.
In 1994, Chris formed LDG Development with his business partner
Mark Lechner, successfully focusing on acquiring, developing, building
and managing single-family homes. The company eventually grew to
have a portfolio of more than 500 homes as well as acquiring and
managing commercial real estate properties in 17 states. In 2002,
LDG saw an opportunity to enter the Housing Tax Credit Program and
by using this model, LDG has developed over 8000 units in multiple
states.
Today, LDG has three main divisions, all focused on maximizing growth and production.
With the mission statement, “Everyone Deserves a Quality Place to Live”, the company
has over 30 employees in its offices located in Louisville, KY and Austin, TX and are
focused on developing and managing quality properties for the thousands of families
of residents and families it serves.
Chris has served as president of four different trade organizations including the
national president of the Society of Exchange Councilors. He resides in his hometown of
Louisville, KY with his family.
Deborah Favreau
Deborah Favreau
Ms. Favreau joined the Massachusetts Housing Investment Fund (MHIC) in 1998. She was been one of two lead MHIC staff members responsible for designing and implementing MHIC's New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) program, including development of investment strategy, community impact objectives, and financial model. She has been one of MHIC's major underwriters of NMTC loans and investments, responsible for financing a diverse array of projects designed to meet expressed community needs. She has had primary responsibility for relationship-building, locating high impact investments, and providing the technical assistance needed to bring these projects to fruition. Her rural investments include: launch of a major new yogurt-making venture in Brattleboro VT; retention of a manufacturing company, the largest employer in St. Johnsbury, VT; lodge, cabin and trail complex with the Appalachian Mountain Club to increase economic opportunity in Piscataquis County, ME; and major expansions of community health centers in Willimantic, CT and Torrington, CT. In the past 2 years, Ms. Favreau is also working to bring healthy retail uses to inner-city investments made by MHIC’s Health Neighborhood’s Equity Fund, providing patient capital for mixed-use real estate projects that address the social determinants of health. Prior to 2003, she was responsible for underwriting construction, permanent, acquisition, bridge, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and line of credit financing. Ms. Favreau has closed over 70 transactions with a value exceeding $350 million. Prior to joining MHIC she was a Senior Project Manager at Homeowner’s Rehab, a Cambridge, MA-based non-profit where she developed affordable housing. Prior to 1994, she spent 5 1/2 years working for the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership where she developed a program that used the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to finance limited equity cooperatives in inner-city neighborhoods. Five new affordable housing projects totaling 220 units were constructed as a result. She began her career in the commercial credit training program at New England Merchants Bank, Boston, MA. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Homeowner's Rehab, Inc. in Cambridge and the loan committee of Common Capital, a CDFI and small business loan fund, based in Holyoke, MA. Education: Wellesley College, BA, 1981; Yale School of Management, MPPM, 1986; Harvard Kennedy School of Government, MC-MPA, 1994.
Eileen Fitzgerald
Eileen Fitzgerald
Eileen Fitzgerald is the President and CEO of Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF). In her role as President and CEO, Ms. Fitzgerald works to identify, develop and advocate for key strategic issues of concern to SAHF and its members, create a level playing field for effective, mission oriented nonprofit businesses and amplify SAHF’s impact to create more sustainable properties and communities and improve the lives of residents.
Gordon Goldie
Gordon Goldie
Gordon Goldie is one of the leaders of Plante Moran’s Housing and Community Development Solutions Group. He has 30 years of experience primarily focused on providing tax consulting services to the real estate industry. He spends virtually 100% of his time assisting both for-profit and non-profit clients in financing real estate development projects with tax incentives such as historic tax credits, New Markets Tax Credits, and Opportunity Zones. He assists clients nationwide in identifying available tax incentives and structuring transactions to optimize the net benefit of the incentives while ensuring compliance with all applicable tax law requirements.
Glenn Graff
Glenn Graff
PRACTICE:
Glenn is the head of the Firm’s Tax Group and concentrates his practice on the following areas: (1) the development of real estate with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit, the Investment Tax Credit for Renewable Energy Property, state tax credits and Federal Qualified Opportunity Zones; (2) the taxation of partnerships and LLCs; (3) the taxation of not-for-profit organizations and (4) IRS audits of tax credit partnerships. He represents syndicators, developers, investors and nonprofit organizations in structuring tax advantaged transactions. Glenn has also acted as an expert witness relating to tax credit transactions. He has represented clients in tax disputes before the IRS, the United States Tax Court and local tax authorities with an emphasis on appraisal and valuation issues. Glenn has worked on a number of tax credit related IRS audits.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
• Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C., 2001 to present
• Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Tax Attorney, 1996-2001
• Mayer, Brown and Platt, Tax Associate, 1991-96
ADMISSION TO PRACTICE:
• State of Illinois
• United States Tax Court
EDUCATION:
• University of Illinois, College of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, 1991
Member, Order of the Coif, Law Review
• University of Illinois, B.A. Economics, 1988
CASES LITIGATED:
• Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. v. Alabama DOR, (No. S97-103)
• Norwest Corp. v. Comm’r, 108 TC 265 (1997)
• Nestle Holdings, Inc. v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo, 1995-441 (1995)
ACTIVITIES AND PUBLICATIONS:
• American Bar Association
o Member of Governing Committee of the American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, 2016-present
o Chair or Co-Chair, Tax Credit and Equity Financing Committee of the Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, 2006-2016
• Moderator on numerous American Bar Association Teleconferences on legislation affecting low-income housing
• Regularly speaks on tax issues relating to Federal low-income housing and historic credits, and the Illinois affordable housing tax credit
• Author, Limited Time Offer-Bonus Depreciation Yield Enhancer, Novogradac Journal on Tax Credits (2016).
• Author, How to Save Your Property’s 9 Percent Rate (Even with 2014 Credits, Novogradac Journal on Tax Credits (2012).
• Author, IRS Memo States TCAP Grants are Taxable at Time of TCAP Agreement is Signed, Journal of Tax Credits, Vol II, Issue IV (2011).
• Contributing Author, The Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development, 2d Ed., American Bar Association (2011).
• Contributing Author, Explanation and Analysis, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – Law and Analysis (2009).
• Co-Author, Initiatives and Tools for the Preservations of Affordable Housing in Illinois, 18 Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law 403 (2009).
• Co-Author, Low Income Housing Tax Credit Provisions of the Recovery Act of 2009: Tools to Close Financing Gaps in a Weak Tax Credit Equity Market, 18 Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law 463 (2009).
• Co-Author, Attention Developers: Beware of TCAP Tax Pitfalls and Be Aware of Credit Exchange Tax Benefits, Journal of Tax Credit Housing Volume II, Issue IX (2009).
• Contributing Author, Housing Assistance Act of 2008 – Law (2008).
• Contributing Author, Explanation and Analysis and Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 – Law (2008).
• Co-Author, Impact of Housing and Economic Recovery Tax Act of 2008 on Current and Future Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Properties, 18 Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law 47 (2008).
• Frequently quoted in Housing and Development Reporter and other tax credit publications
Scott Hoekman
Scott Hoekman
Scott Hoekman is Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer for Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. He chairs the Credit Committee and leads the Credit and Technical Services teams. He oversees Enterprise’s LIHTC and Conventional Equity asset management as President and CEO of Enterprise Community Asset Management, Inc. He also serves as a senior advisor to Enterprise’s Public Policy team on tax policy and affordable housing programs. He has been with Enterprise for 24 years.
Scott holds a master’s degree from the Tufts University Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and a bachelor’s degree from Calvin College.
Merrill Hoopengardner
Merrill Hoopengardner
As President of NTCIC, Merrill directs fundraising and acquisitions opportunities, develops and implements overall strategy and new lines of business for the company, and coordinates governing board/staff relations.
Merrill joined NTCIC in 2016, bringing 19 years of experience in community development finance that includes the structuring and closing of over $1 billion utilizing Historic, New Markets, and Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Before joining NTCIC, Ms. Hoopengardner was a Principal at Advantage Capital Partners, a finance company that specializes in using public-private partnerships to raise venture capital and small business capital for investments and loans in underserved areas. At Advantage, Merrill raised over $100 million per year in state and federal NMTC funds that were used to provide access to capital for small businesses nationwide.
Merrill began her tax credit career with the law firm Nixon Peabody LLP, where she represented a number of prominent community development entity, investor, and project sponsor clients.
Merrill received her bachelor’s degree and law degree from Duke University. She is the chair of the Historic Tax Credit Coalition and a member of the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Advisory Board, the SunTrust CDE Advisory Board, the Banc of America CDE Advisory Board, and the Executive Committee of the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition.
George Howell
George Howell
Mr. Howell as the CEO of the West Hartford Housing Authority is responsible for managing an independent housing authority with 350 mixed-income/mixed-use, affordable, family and Senior housing units in 5 residential communities: the new 54 unit mixed-income/mixed-use New Park; the 137 unit seniors property, Alfred E. Plant; the recently renovated 40 unit affordable seniors/disabled property, Elm Grove Apartments; The Goodwin, a 47 unit mixed-income family property; the Faxon, a proposed renovation of 72 family units; over 500 West Hartford Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) and; under a contractual arrangement, the administration of over 2000 CT Department of Housing Section 8 HCVs.
PRIOR EXPERIENCE
Prior to coming to West Hartford, Mr. Howell was the CEO for the Greenwich Housing Authority. As the Greenwich CEO Mr. Howell was responsible for managing an independent housing authority with approximately 1000 affordable Family and Senior housing units and approximately 400 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV). During his tenure he was responsible for orchestrating the finalization of a CBDG funding for the construction of 4 affordable low-income homeownership condominiums, as well as structuring the financing for the low-income purchasers.
Mr. Howell was also the Director of Housing and Economic Development for the City of
Mankato Minnesota where he managed a department with 250 family and senior public housing units, 750 HCVs as well as an aggressive low-income homeownership program that put over 20 families into homes of their own. While serving in this position, Mr. Howell was presented with the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority’s “Mary Stuber 2002 Award for Outstanding Public Service in Partner’s for Affordable Housing” as well as the Mankato Chamber of Commerce award for “Outstanding Volunteer for Housing”.
Finally, Mr. Howell founded and for 20 years was CEO of Development Research Company which provided real estate market research, real estate development and real estate financing services; economic development, business retention and recruitment services; community development and strategic planning services for both public and private clients throughout the United States. In addition, Mr. Howell has acted as either development consultant, financial consultant or developer of commercial, industrial, hotel, multi-family and single-family developments.
Dara Kovel
Dara Kovel
Ms. Dara Kovel is President of Beacon Communities Development LLC, overseeing the all development activities for Beacon Communities. Dara has been actively involved in the development of affordable housing for over 20 years. Prior to her joining Beacon, she was Vice President and Chief Housing Officer at the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) where she oversaw all multifamily lending and tax credit allocation activities, as well as the homeownership programs.
Before working at CHFA, Dara ran the New England office of Jonathan Rose Companies, a New York-based, green, real estate development and investment company. Her previous work was with Mercy Housing California, where she ran the Southern California office and developed affordable housing throughout the state of California.
Dara currently serves on the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Advisory Council, Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center’s Workforce Housing Board and the Home Connecticut Steering Committee. She is LEED accredited and holds a BA and MBA from Yale University.
Cody Z. Langeness
Cody Z. Langeness
Cody Langeness is President of Red Stone Tax-Exempt Funding LLC, the platform through which all of the Red Stone’s tax-exempt bond funds are managed. Red Stone’s core business is providing acquisition, development period and permanent mortgage capital on properties that are financed utilizing tax-exempt bonds. Mr. Langeness has been employed by Red Stone for more than 11 years, a tenure which has included responsibilities pertaining to the origination, structuring, and closing of multifamily debt and equity investments representing capital in excess of $2.5 billion.
Jennifer Massey
Jennifer Massey
Jennifer Massey oversees the underwriting of FHA-insured multifamily loans throughout the United States. Jennifer serves in a dual role as Chief Operating Officer of Highland. Her duties include oversight of Asset Management, Servicing, and Compliance.
Prior to joining HCM, Jennifer was a Principal of Prudential. Additionally, she worked for Collateral Mortgage in the areas of loan servicing and compliance, originating, underwriting and placement under the company’s FHA lending platform.
Jennifer is active with organizations including CCIM, MBA and CREW. She holds seats on the Boards of Directors for the Southeast Mortgagee Advisory Council to HUD and the Southwest Advisory Council to HUD.
Jim McNicholas
Jim McNicholas
Jim McNicholas is a Senior Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in Baltimore, MD. He has spent most of his career (22 years) at Bank of America and its predecessor entities. For a short period between 2004-2008, he worked for MMA Realty Capital as an Investment Officer on multi-family tax-exempt bond deals. For the past five years, Mr. McNicholas has served as Senior Asset Manager with Bank of America, where he is responsible for asset management of a national portfolio of equity investments involving New Market and Historic Tax Credit transactions. His experience includes commercial real estate asset management, loan underwriting, loan workouts, managing and disposition of REO portfolio. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business with concentration in Finance from University of Baltimore.
Sue Moro
Sue Moro
Susan Moro has more than 25 years of experience in real estate serving over 20 years in tax credits
and affordable housing. Based in New York City, Susan currently manages a team of low income
housing tax credit lending and equity professionals who are responsible for the structuring,
underwriting and closing of affordable housing tax credit transactions for the bank’s northern and
central territories, including NYC, Boston, and Chicago. Previously, she served in roles including Tax
Credit Syndications with Wachovia Securities/Wells Fargo where she was responsible for managing
client relationships, and asset and GP portfolio sales, and with Boston Financial Group in asset
management. Susan’s earlier real estate years were spent with RECOLL Management Group where
she was responsible for asset liquidation and overseeing a diverse portfolio of non-performing real
estate loans. She serves as a board member for the Supportive Housing Network of New York and is
a member of the LISC Connecticut Statewide Advisory Committee. Susan is a graduate of University
of Massachusetts.
Ben Nichols
Ben Nichols
Ben Nichols is Enterprise’s Vice President of Strategic Integration. Currently, he is leading the integration of two development organizations, Enterprise Homes and Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) into one developer/owner of over 12,000 units of affordable housing in the Mid-Atlantic. Previously, Ben led Enterprise’s National Initiatives which are subject matter focus areas including: Green Communities, Design, Transit Oriented Development, Partner Sustainability and Health and Housing among others. He started the Partner Sustainability team that provides resources and technical assistance to both nonprofit developers in order to develop and preserve affordable housing as well as keep vital services flowing to our neighborhoods and communities. During the last sixteen years at Enterprise, Ben’s duties have included: providing technical assistance on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) projects, underwriting lending for Enterprise Community Loan Fund, evaluating the financial health of organizations and helping organizations plan for their future. Ben holds an MBA and a certificate of nonprofit management from Weatherhead School of Management (Case Western Reserve University) and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame. He is based in Enterprise’s Cleveland office.
R. Wade Norris
R. Wade Norris
R. Wade Norris is a partner at Norris George & Ostrow PLLC. Mr. Norris is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading experts in the field of multifamily housing bond finance. Mr. Norris has over four decades’ experience in over 3,500 tax-exempt multifamily housing and other bond financings totaling over five billion dollars, primarily as Underwriter’s or Purchaser’s Counsel or Special Bond Matters Counsel to the Borrower. Mr. Norris has often played a major role in developing new financing techniques in this area of finance. In the past 10 years, these include development of, among other products, the Country’s largest tax-exempt bond and loan bank private placement program; short-term cash-backed tax-exempt bonds used with FHA, RD and other low-rate taxable loans; the Freddie Tax-Exempt Loan or “TEL” structure; and, most recently, Fannie Mae’s M.TEBs tax-exempt monthly MBS pass-through structure. Mr. Norris’ paper entitled “Introduction to Tax Exempt Multifamily Housing Bonds” is widely regarded as the industry’s leading introductory article on tax exempt multifamily housing bond finance. Mr. Norris is a member of the Georgia State Bar and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Bar of the District of Columbia and the American College of Bond Counsel.
Joshua Parker
Joshua Parker
Josh Parker is a Partner and Principal with Cross Street Partners, a vertically integrated real estate development company exclusively focused on re-building communities by creating vibrant urban mixed-use neighborhoods built on a foundation of innovation and entrepreneurial activity. Josh has benefited from over 16 years of unique real estate experience in adaptive re-use, urban redevelopment, innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives, and university leased real estate.
Prior to joining Cross Street Partners, Mr. Parker was a Development Director for Wexford Science & Technology. At Wexford Mr. Parker led development and investment activities for the firm in the St. Louis, MO and Research Triangle/Durham, NC markets through its merger with BioMed Realty Trust. Mr. Parker began his real estate career in 2001 with Blue Devil Ventures. In 2004 he was appointed Director of Development with Niemann Capital and in 2008, Mr. Parker started his own development firm, TBL Group, where he led projects in the southeast before joining Wexford.
Patrick Sheridan
Patrick Sheridan
Patrick Sheridan is an Executive Vice President for Housing with the Volunteers of America, a national, nonprofit, spiritually based organization. Mr. Sheridan is responsible for the overall strategy and administration of senior, multi-family, special needs housing and other real estate projects for the organization’s national portfolio. Previously, Mr. Sheridan held the position of Assistant Deputy Administrator for Multi-Family Housing for the Rural Housing Service (RHS), an agency of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, where he was responsible for the implementation and management of the affordable multi-family housing programs administered by the Agency. He has also held the positions of Director of Housing Management with the Maryland Community Development Administration of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, along with private sector positions as Director of Loan Servicing for a national real estate advisory firm, and Director of Development for a multi-state apartment development company. He is a member of the boards of the National Affordable Housing Trust, Stewards for Affordable Housing for the Future, the National Housing Conference, the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association, an advisory board member to the Valued Advisor Fund, a new markets tax credit fund, and an editorial advisor to Affordable Housing Finance magazine.
Corine Sheridan
Corine Sheridan
Corine Sheridan, with 28 years of multifamily housing finance experience, directs the strategic growth of Boston Capital’s LIHTC equity transactions nationwide. In this capacity, Ms. Sheridan acquires and manages new client relationships and assists team members in delivering the firm’s full suite of financial products and services. In collaboration with senior management, she interacts with the firm’s investors, leveraging relationships between LIHTC developers and the investor community. She serves as the spokesperson for the company in the LIHTC marketplace, with frequent speaking engagements at industry forums nationally and on the local level. Prior to joining Boston Capital in early 2003, Ms. Sheridan served as Director of Business Development for The Reznick Group (now CohnReznick), one of the nation’s largest real estate advisory and multifamily housing accounting firms, and with Dynex Capital, a nationwide affordable housing lender, responsible for originating and underwriting construction and permanent debt for affordable and market rate transactions. She has served on advisory teams with state Housing Finance Agencies nationally, is a member of the National Council of State Housing Agencies, the National Association of Home Builders, and numerous state housing coalitions. Board positions include the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association and the Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition. On the local level, Ms. Sheridan is on the Board of the Friends of the Light House Shelter in Annapolis, Maryland. She attended the University of Maryland.
John Sorel
John Sorel
Mr. Sorel is a senior member of the acquisition department primarily responsible for the origination, acquisition and analysis of affordable housing investments. He has over 29 years of experience working in the commercial real estate debt and equity finance industry, with a particular focus on multifamily and affordable housing investments. Prior to joining Stratford Capital, he was Managing Director at Berkeley Point Capital where he was responsible for a range of asset management, special asset management and risk management functions. Mr. Sorel was previously a Managing Director at Centerline Capital and its predecessor companies in New York where he specialized in affordable multifamily equity and debt finance. Mr. Sorel has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Syracuse University.
Victor Sostar
Victor Sostar
Victor Sostar is Executive Vice President of Regions Affordable Housing, LLC (“RAH”) one of the leading national affordable housing investment sponsors. In October 2016, Regions Bank acquired the corporate fund syndication and asset management business of First Sterling. The acquisition complements Regions’ community investment, real estate banking and capital markets capabilities to serve more clients and communities. Regions Bank is one of the nation’s largest participants in affordable housing finance. The combined platform has acquired over 1,100 properties in 45 states totaling over 57,000 units. Mr. Sostar serves as national group head of equity and debt underwriting for RAH. He is experienced in structuring complex transactions involving mixed-income and mixed-use properties and transactions utilizing a combination of federal and state tax credits, historic rehabilitation tax credits and energy credits. Mr. Sostar joined First Sterling in 1997 and during his tenure served in a variety of senior positions including acquisitions, underwriting, and asset management and most recently as Executive Vice President. Prior to joining First Sterling, Mr. Sostar served as Vice President of Value Properties, Inc., a private equity real estate firm and its investment banking affiliate Value Capital Corporation. He began his career in architecture, engineering and real estate development. Mr. Sostar holds a B.A. in architecture from Pratt Institute, an M.B.A in finance from Hofstra University and a diploma from New York University in real estate and investment analysis, where he received a Mortgage Banker’s Association scholarship. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, where he serves as a member of the New York Housing Council, and the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Megan Watts
Megan Watts
Megan Watts is an attorney at Goulston & Storrs, focusing in particular on real estate capital markets and affordable housing. In her affordable housing practice, she regularly represents developers, owners, and investors in tax credit transactions, HUD subsidy financing, ground up development, and complex joint ventures and partnership matters. She has had extensive experience advising clients with the complexities of Chapter 40T, Massachusetts’ expiring use preservation law, and helping her clients structure and carry out deals with non-traditional funding sources.