Speakers

Mr. Fazzano, a Director for Boston Capital Finance, leads both the underwriting and the asset management teams. On the underwriting side, he is responsible for reviewing all third party reports, collecting due diligence, completing or reviewing investment summaries, negotiating loan documents and working with both bond council and bond trustees to ensure a successful closing process. Over the past several years, the transactions have consisted primarily of tax-exempt construction to permanent bonds ranging in size from $10 million to $65 million. During his 28 years at Boston Capital Finance, he has closed over $3.0 billion in affordable housing debt and worked with approximately 20 institutional investors including both insurance companies, banks and endowments.

On the asset management side, Mr. Fazzano is responsible for working with nationally recognized third party engineers to review both construction progress and change orders, overseeing all monthly construction draws as well as all investor reporting. Boston Capital Finance utilizes hands on asset management approach and visits each site both prior to closing and at construction completion. Each transaction is re-sized as part of the stabilization process to make sure that the project meets each investors required debt service coverage ratio. Once a property has achieved stabilization, Mr. Fazzano is responsible for the collection of monthly rent rolls, quarterly property financial statements and year-end audits. This information is then presented to our investors in a format that meets their internal requirements.

Additionally, Mr. Fazzano's responsibilities include aiding in Boston Capital Finance's fund raising initiatives including but not limited to creating debt initiatives, presenting investment alternatives to corporate executives and ultimately negotiating fund documents. Mr. Fazzano has over 35 years of lending experience and has been an employee at Boston Capital since 1994.

Jim Gillespie is executive vice president of Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC where he focuses on loan origination and management of developer relationships for the firm. Gillespie is also responsible for establishing and managing BWE’s Direct Bond Purchase Program. Gillespie has more than 20 years of diversified real estate experience focused on originating and structuring debt and direct equity investments for affordable housing nationwide. Before joining Bellwether, Gillespie was managing director at Hunt Mortgage Group. Previously, Gillespie was founding principal and managing director of Red Stone Partners where he helped build and manage their proprietary tax-exempt bond funds, deploying more than $2 billion in capital during his nine-year tenure. Prior to Red Stone, Gillespie was senior vice president of The Related Companies, responsible for the acquisition, repositioning and financing of nearly $2.2 billion in 80/20 bond-financed multifamily properties nationwide. Gillespie is a frequent speaker at national and regional affordable housing conferences covering various topics of workforce and affordable housing finance for both 9% and 4% LIHTC (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA/HUD and tax-exempt bond purchase structures) as well as Section 8 preservation transactions. Gillespie holds a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College, an MPA in urban and regional planning and development from University of Louisville, and an MS in real estate development from Columbia University.

Ryan Moya serves as National Housing Trust's (NHT’s) managing director of sustainability, where he leads NHT's sustainability program efforts that build upon a successful solar energy portfolio totaling over 10MW of built capacity across the country. Prior to joining NHT, Moya was the senior energy and sustainability program manager on CBRE’s Microsoft account, where he deployed global sustainability programs across Microsoft's portfolio of more than 900 facilities. Moya was also among the core team at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability who engaged citywide agencies and mobilized support for the city’s landmark buildings energy performance mandate legislation. At Simon Property Group, Moya supported three Simon properties that became the first in the state of Texas to secure $3 million in PACE financing for deep energy retrofits. Moya received his bachelor’s degree from UCLA and attended the University of Michigan for his graduate studies, receiving a dual master’s degree with a focus on decarbonizing the built environment.

Lou manages Cabretta’s national state tax credit acquisition efforts from Honolulu to Richmond.  Lou draws on extensive legislative, legal, acquisition and underwriting experience in the tax credit industry.  Most recently, Lou headed a national legislative lobbying effort aimed at creating and improving state affordable housing credit laws resulting in the successful passage of legislation in Hawaii, Arizona, Virginia and South Carolina.

Mark Sween, a partner at Dominium, is responsible for locating and closing acquisition opportunities. His work involves serving financial institutions in resolving problem properties that are on their watch lists and acquiring general partner interests in operating partnerships. Through his work, Dominium has acquired 42 properties in 10 states. Prior to joining Dominium, Sween worked for two national low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) syndicators where he was responsible for originating and closing more than $300 million of equity. He was also a principal in a development and property management firm that syndicated existing apartment projects, LIHTC, and readily took on historic rehab projects. Sween has been active in the multi-housing industry since 1981, when he began his career at the international accounting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick. He has held Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Property Manager (CPM) designations. Previously, Sween served as the board chair of the Minnesota Multi Housing Association and President of the Minnesota chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management. Sween is a founding contributor to the Dominium Foundation which contributes to important housing and social service organizations in the communities where Dominium operates.

Jeff Weiss is president of Hunt Capital Partners. Weiss has specialized in affordable housing for more than 25 years with a focus on raising equity and structuring project partnership agreements with multiple layers of debt. He is responsible for all tax credit syndication activities of the company and is a member of the Credit Committee and executive management. From 1996 to 2003, Weiss served as a guest lecturer at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy for the Dollinger Master of Real Estate Development Program where he instructed graduate students in real estate finance, feasibility analysis and affordable housing. Weiss received a bachelor’s degree in real estate finance from San Diego State University, a Master of Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California, and a juris doctor from Southwestern University School of Law. Weiss is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

Sarah Geis is a senior vice president and senior banker for KeyBank Community Development Lending & Investment. Geis has nearly 20 years of experience in affordable multifamily housing lending, including four years as the director of lending for a nonprofit CDFI. She has worked on a wide variety of financing structures for affordable housing developments, including low-income housing tax credits, historic tax credits, private placement and public bond offerings, and credit enhancements. Geis served as the president of the board of directors of Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation for nine years, and is currently the vice president of the board of directors for NEWSED Community Development Corporation. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a Master of Business Administration.

Reagan Maechling is vice president of acquisitions at Enterprise Housing Credit Investments, an Enterprise Community Partners affiliate. She is responsible for originating and overseeing the underwriting of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) transactions in Southern California, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. In this role, she also manages developer relationships and supports the promotion of Enterprise’s broad range of affordable housing and community development tools, including Bellwether Enterprise mortgage financing, the Enterprise Community Loan Fund, new markets tax credits, local policy efforts, grants and technical assistance. Maechling has more than 18 years of experience in affordable housing and real estate development. During her tenure at Enterprise, Maechling has underwritten or secured approximately $1.2 billion of LIHTC equity investments in about 96 developments. Prior to joining the organization in 2007, Maechling held project management positions for affordable and market rate housing developers in Northern and Southern California. She holds a master’s degree in urban planning and bachelor’s degrees in political science and international development studies from UCLA.

Richard Shea joined CREA in August 2015 and focuses on CREA equity originations with developers in California and Arizona. Shea has more than 25 years of experience in the affordable housing industry; most recently as senior vice president and market manager for U.S. Bank. In his role with U.S. Bank, he was responsible for managing the origination, underwriting and portfolio management teams for the bank’s community lending division in the Southern California region, overseeing both the Los Angeles and San Diego offices. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, Shea spent 13 years as the lead originator for PNC’s affordable housing financing products in California, including bank debt, bond debt, syndicated and proprietary tax credit investments as well as direct purchase tax credit investments. Shea holds both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in finance from San Diego State University as well as a California Real Estate License.

Cory Bannister has spent nearly a decade financing and developing affordable housing. He is an Executive Vice President of R4 Capital in our Newport Beach, California office, responsible for originating and acquiring LIHTC properties for the firm.

His finance career began by structuring loans to affordable housing developments with Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, and later, acquiring tax credit properties with R4 Capital. Through his work structuring debt and placing equity, thousands of affordable housing units have been created or preserved.

His tenure also includes work for two prominent West Coast affordable housing developers, Wasatch Advantage Group and Community Development Partners. Cory has direct experience working through all stages of the finance and development life cycle. He has navigated complex environmental and entitlement issues, won multiple 9% awards, and garnered over $20 million in soft funding. In total, he has developed over 890 units of affordable housing with total development costs exceeding $200 million.

Michael Novogradac is the managing partner of Novogradac, which has been in business since 1989. He specializes in affordable housing, community development, historic preservation and renewable energy. Mr. Novogradac’s focus is in real estate taxation and accounting. He is the author of numerous real estate-related tax and accounting articles and books, including the Novogradac Opportunity Zones Handbook, the New Markets Tax Credit Handbook and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Handbook. A frequent speaker at tax incentive conferences and forums throughout the country, Mr. Novogradac also broadcasts a weekly podcast, Tax Credit Tuesday. As a leading industry expert, he is frequently quoted in national media, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNBC News, NBC News, National Public Radio and Crain’s New York Business.  Mr. Novogradac is active in advocating for the inclusion of affordable housing, historic preservation, community development and renewable energy incentives in federal and state tax policy, and serves as advisor on industry and governmental affairs for the NMTC Working Group, LIHTC Working Group and the Opportunity Zones Working Group. Mr. Novogradac provides input to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and other federal and state agencies as well as members of Congress, including testimony before the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. Mr. Novogradac also serves on the executive committee of the Housing Advisory Group and the boards of directors of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, the National Housing Conference, the NMTC Coalition and Historic Tax Credit Coalition. In 2016, Mr. Novogradac was inducted into the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame. He also received The Affordable Housing Visionary Award from The NHP Foundation in 2018, in recognition of his contributions to the affordable housing community and in 2020 was honored as one of the top 25 OZ Influencers through Opportunity Zone Magazine. Mr. Novogradac graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. He is licensed in California, Oregon, Maryland and Texas as a certified public accountant. You can follow Mr. Novogradac on twitter @novogradac and on his blog at www.novoco.com/blog or listen to his weekly podcast at www.novoco.com/podcast.