People on the Move 12.15.22| Housing Finance Magazine

Property Resources Corp. Announces Leadership Moves

Property Resources Corp. (PRC), a leading New York City affordable housing developer, has elevated longtime principals Matt Linde to CEO and Ben Linde to chief operating officer. They will oversee the company’s strategic vision and expand its affordable and market-rate development portfolio while managing day-to-day operations.

Frank Linde, president, and John Chatzky, vice president and general counsel, who took over the firm’s operations from founder Jerry Chatzky, will step back from managing day-to-day operations and become co-chairs of the PRC board. Frank Linde was Jerry Chatzky’s son-in-law.

The firm has four projects in pre-development and construction totaling more than $800 million in New York City and around the region.

Matt Linde joined PRC in 2016 and has more than 12 years of experience in capital markets and sourcing new acquisitions. During his tenure, he has facilitated some of the largest closings in the firm’s history, including a $600 million construction loan for the preservation of nearly 1,700 apartments in East New York and a membership interest disposition for a 2,000-apartment LIHTC portfolio in the south Bronx. Before joining PRC, he served as a director at Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group.

Ben Linde joined PRC in 2009 and has more than 14 years of experience in asset management. During his tenure, he has been responsible for overseeing the strategic, operational, and financial areas of all divisions of PRC. Since joining the firm, he has developed more than $1.3 billion of multifamily residential housing, including the creation or preservation of more than 4,200 affordable apartments. He has also participated in the oversight and operation of more than 7,500 apartments ranging from affordable to luxury rentals. Prior to PRC, he worked as a property manager and oversaw the day-to-day management of a 25-building portfolio of residential properties in Manhattan.

Since its founding in 1971, the firm has developed more than 9,840 units. PRC recently received the Developer of the Year award from the New York Housing Conference.

Nesbitt to Head Florida Housing Coalition

Ashon Nesbitt has been named CEO of the Florida Housing Coalition, the state’s leading nonprofit provider of training and technical assistance dedicated to affordable housing, effective Jan. 1. He succeeds Jaimie Ross, the Coalition’s longtime president and CEO, who is retiring.

The organization’s board selected Nesbitt from a pool of 300 applicants.

He is chief programs officer and technical adviser with the Coalition, where he has led the Community Land Trust Institute as well as the Center for Racial Equity. Nesbitt is also the author of the Coalition’s “Eyesore to Asset: A Guidebook for Adaptive Reuse of Vacant Retail,” designed to aid local governments and business leaders in their search for new models for local economic development.

Prior to joining the Coalition, he was a project manager for Blue Sky Communities, an affordable housing developer in Tampa. He also served as an asset manager and underwriter for Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments.

KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment Appoints COO

Christopher Duncan has been named chief operating officer at KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI). In the newly created role, Duncan will lead operational growth and improvement initiatives across the CDLI debt and equity platforms.

He joins KeyBank with nearly 20 years of community development experience. Previously, he was the director of affordable housing business strategy and operations at U.S. Bank, where he led portfolio management, underwriting, and strategy teams focused on affordable housing debt and equity. Duncan’s professional background also includes corporate finance, leading strategic operational, technology, and business integration initiatives for a national firm.Based in St. Louis, he will report to Rob Likes, president of KeyBank’s CDLI.

Douglaston Development Announces Affordable Housing Executive

Liz Oakley has been appointed executive vice president of affordable development and government relations at Douglaston Development, one of the largest residential and mixed-use developers in New York City. It is an arm of The Douglaston Cos., a privately held group of real estate-related companies.

Oakley will focus on the firm’s affordable housing development strategy, spearheading relations and communications with governmental agencies, conducting public and community outreach, and ensuring the company’s affordable development team works in tandem with construction and management entities involved to maximize efficiency.

She joins Douglaston with over 15 years of affordable housing and community development experience. Most recently, Oakley served as a special adviser at New York State Homes and Community Renewal, advising the agency’s executive team on debt structuring and potential new program term sheets. Earlier, she served as deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, leading the development team to exceed production targets of more than 25,000 affordable units for both the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years, and setting new records for homeless, senior, and new construction production. Oakley also served as a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Community Lending & Investment.

Guardian Deepens Development Team

Ben Bortolazzo has been named director of development at Guardian, a developer, owner, and operator of multifamily properties.

He will lead the company’s development efforts, including four multifamily housing projects under construction that will bring 750 units to the Portland, Oregon, metro area. He brings more than 25 years of professional experience, including 19 years at Otak, where he led a multidisciplinary team of planners, designers, and architects. Bortolazzo recently concluded a four-year term on the city of Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Commission.

Guardian’s development portfolio continues to expand, most recently with the completion of Fuller Station, a 100-unit affordable community in Happy Valley, as well as the ongoing construction of Slabtown Square in Northwest Portland, Seven Acres in Milwaukie, Oregon, and Tiller Terrace in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Southwest Portland.

NewPoint Adds to Senior Housing Platform

Christopher Honn has joined NewPoint Real Estate Capital as managing director, senior housing originations. Based in Chicago, he will play a critical role in expanding the firm’s growing senior housing and health care platform, with an emphasis on agency loan solutions.

Honn brings more than 35 years of experience to the post, including serving as a managing director at Regions Bank, where he assisted in the creation of the firm’s senior housing platform. Before that, he managed Berkadia’s senior housing and health care mortgage banking and underwriting team. He also served as director of Fannie Mae’s senior housing program for 12 years.