Impact Real Estate Podcast

On this episode of Impact Real Estate Podcast, we check on the climate of affordable housing in the City of Brotherly Love with SHIFT Capital Co-founder and Principal Brian Murray. We walk about how Brian’s work is Influencing and pushing the conversation around healthy, equitable neighborhoods and development in Philadelphia and how his time in the tech space led him down a path to creating a firm that invests with a purpose.

EPISODE NOTES:

01:34 - What is Shift Capital?

03:04 - Macro level Philly argument

06:14 - One of the core challenges of real estate

09:53 - A lot of door knocking

11:32 - A little lighting in a bottle

15:52 - Too much personality to be an accountant

19:52 - Upside down economics

23:27 - Vertically integrated

25:37 - Possible expansion

26:34 - The Hot Seat Presented by KK Reset

Brian Murray is the co-founder of Shift Capital, an impact urban real estate group driving mission-oriented capital, collaborative resources and inclusive strategies into underserved communities. Through his work at Shift, Brian is focused on finding better solutions at the intersection of society’s most difficult urban challenges - intergenerational poverty, urban revitalization, access to opportunity, and community displacement.

Brian spent the majority of his career outside of the real estate space, starting his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor. He moved into the technology space where he helped found two start-ups, before joining the Peace Corps and heading back to get his MBA. While in graduate school, Brian observed the growing interest in impact investing - investing with a purpose. It was at this time he made his first real estate investment and discovered the importance of socially-minded development. He hasn’t looked back since.

Brian is a graduate of The College of New Jersey and received his MBA from Yale School of Management. He is the co-founder of Arete Youth Foundation, focused on youth development in the Roma communities of Bulgaria. He has two daughters that keep him young at heart and on his toes.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast with Chris Papa, we had an amazing and uplifting story of triumph. We welcome Douglaston Development's Executive Vice President of Affordable Housing, Arden Sokolow, who tells us her story of overcoming homelessness as a child to lead an affordable housing portfolio of more than 7,500 units. She also guides us through the competitive world of affordable housing in New York. It's an episode you do not want to miss.

EPISODE NOTES:

02:10 - What is Douglaston Development?

05:03 - Building partnerships

07:03 - New York Affordable Housing is the strongest

09:33 - Leaving no resources on the table; Biden's focus on public housing

11:48 - Getting an affordable deal done in New York

14:20 - Born for affordable housing

18:55 - Deep connections at HUD

21:13 - Skillsets: Understanding of policy but a knowledge of how things work

23:05 - The future of affordable housing in New York

25:56 - Homelessness and its causes

27:01 - Responding to the pipeline

28:31 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Arden joined Douglaston Development as the Executive Vice President, Affordable Housing. Prior to joining the company, Arden was the Chief of Staff at The New York City Housing Authority from May 2018 to 2019. During that time, she was in charge of negotiating agreements with the United States Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding NYCHA compliance issues, as well as leading the creation of the NYCHA 2.0 plan to raise $24B for the authority. Arden has held diverse roles at the City, State and Federal level.

Arden served as the Regional Director for Multifamily Housing at HUD, Managing Director for Housing Programs at the NYS Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery and held a wide variety of positions at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. There, she lead the Inclusionary and Tax Incentive Programs and created the Distressed Assets Program to address the housing impact of the 2008 financial crisis.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast, we welcome the CEO and President of Impact Community Capital, Jeff Brenner. Jeff tells the story of how an initial two-year plan turned in a career in affordable housing that now spans 30 years! He also takes us through the ins and outs of being a CEO and the importance of diversity in the workplace and in sourcing new investors. It's double the IMPACT this week on the Impact Real Estate Podcast.

Episode notes:

01:20 - What is Impact Community Capital?

03:00 - The secret sauce

04:!6 - Community experts

06:03 - Trying to do something positive

09:28 - Investments backed by real estate

11:25 - The evolution of Impact

13:22 - An investment thesis

17:02 - Motivated from the very beginning

19:16 - Keep the organization focused on the big picture

20:50 - Calculating social impact

24:26 - Building a diverse team; Focus on broad range of experiences

27:28 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Jeff joined IMPACT in 2012 as Chief Investment Officer. In 2016 he was named interim President following retirement of the company’s founding CEO and became President & CEO in 2017. He leads the senior management team in developing and implementing the strategic direction of the company and is responsible for creating and communicating the organization’s mission, vision, values and brand. Jeff has 30 years of experience in financial services and capital markets, including 23 years in impact investing. Prior to joining IMPACT, Jeff served as Chief Financial Officer for Capital Impact Partners, one of the nation’s largest Community Development Financial Institutions.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast, we have an enlightening conversation with Daniel Weisfield, the co-founder of Three Pillar Communities -- a values-driven real estate investment company that acquires, operates, and develops manufactured housing communities. Daniel takes us through his journey in real estate, telling us along the way how and why he fell in love with mobile home parks. He also tells us how the space has evolved over the years and why it's an amazing growth opportunity now more than ever.

EPISODE NOTES:

01:26 - Top 50 Mobile Park owners

02:15 - The dream of a 5-year-old kid

04:01 - Redefining "trailer parks"

06:36 - Our own little city

08:07 - "The tides are turning..."

11:18 - Some of the hottest assets to buy ... period.

13:20 - Highly incentivized

17:08 - Growth demographics

18:47 - Competing with the big boys

23:30 - The next level

25:55 - Key skill sets

28:43 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Daniel is a third-generation mobile home park investor. His grandfather immigrated to the United States, saved money by fixing cars in his backyard, and eventually bought a mobile home park. Daniel is a licensed manufactured home dealer in four states and believes manufactured housing is the best way to create affordable communities that residents are proud to call home. Daniel has a J.D. and M.B.A from Yale. He previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast, we take a trip from So Cal to Myanmar to the Bay Area and into Oregon with the co-founder of Landed, Jesse Vaughan. Jesse talks to us about learning real estate from his grandfather to his travels of Southeast Asia that fueled his passion for real estate to starting a company helping essential workers build wealth in order to help people free themselves from fear. It's an inspiring episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast you do not want to miss.

EPISODE NOTES:

04:24 - What is Landed?

05:40 - Dividing the challenge

09:08 - An interest in Asia

12:15 - Cutting teeth in Myanmar

16:40 - Grandfather-taught

19:20 - Coming back to the U.S. with a question ...

23:51 - Transparency and a housing problem

28:25 - The process

31:10 - Monetization and more support

35:42 - The next five years

Jesse believes in the power of building wealth to help people free themselves from fear. Money may not buy happiness, but confidence that one can feed and house their family is vital to feeling secure. Prior to returning to his home state of California, Jesse was based in Yangon, Myanmar where he helped to arrange $300M of social impact investments. Jesse holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from New York University, and in 2018, he was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast, we're truly honored to have a legendary voice, scholar and influencer in the housing space -- Kent Colton, President of the Colton Housing Group. We have an enlightening and informative conversation about the current state of housing affordability and how Kent's work with the Ivory Prize of Housing Affordability is blazing a new trail in different housing categories. We also talk housing policy, about the good old days, and Kent also offers up the best answer to date in the Hot Seat, presented by KK Reset.

We say this a lot, but truly, this is an episode you do not want to miss.

EPISODE NOTES

02:10 - The Ivory Prize for housing affordability

05:13 - Removing barriers in regulation

07:06 - Factory-built housing

11:30 - Making housing work for renters

13:02 - Home Partners of America

14:20 - From Utah to MIT

15:52 - The housing shortage stage and other trends

21:08 - Real divisions

24:00 - The good old days? Coming out of WWII ...

29:57 - The government's role

31:55 - Look around your community

35:22 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Kent serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and is the President of the Colton Housing Group. He has 30+ years of experience as a housing scholar and expert in the field of mortgage finance and affordable housing policy.

He was the CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, a position he held from 1984 to 1999. He previously served as an Executive Vice President of Freddie Mac for Policy, Planning and Economic Research. He was a member of the Millennial Housing Commission, and Staff Director of the President's Commission on Housing. He was a White House Fellow in 1974-1975. He was a Professor at Brigham Young University's Graduate School of Management, and Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

Kent has written numerous articles and books on housing finance, housing policy, the secondary mortgage market, and a range of management issues, and is the author of Housing in the Twenty-First Century: Achieving Common Ground.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate podcast, we visit with Ian Wiesner, the Director of Business Development at Capital Impact Partners. Find out what innovative tool CIP has for raising captital, what class at the University of Michigan inspired Ian’s career path and what Ian recommends if you wish to follow his career trajectory. It’s another can’t-miss episode of the most impactful real estate podcast out there. 

EPISODE NOTES

02:05 - What is Capital Impact Partners?

04:42 - Innovated tool for raising capital 

05:49 - People on the ground and a knowledge of the market 

08:01 - “Coapetition”

09:30 - Sourcing transactions 

10:35 - Micro finance; From Michigan to Yale

15:45 - Additional exposure

17:49 - Point of entry; The career trajectory 

21:34 - Created by an act of congress 

24:14 - The next step 

27:12 - Projections are not predictions 

28:42 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast, we talk with the President and CFO of Blue Sky Communities, Scott Macdonald. We chat about his career, how to build a good team from scratch and why Florida and Texas are ideal places for affordable housing.

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2MQRXYW

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cNfTHj

Web: https://www.tbg-realestate.com/podcast/scott-macdonald

Podbean: https://bit.ly/3kJund0

EPISODE NOTES:

02:45 - What is Blue Sky Communities?

04:40 - Nonprofits and housing

07:17 - Building nonprofit partnerships

10:34 - The nonprofit benefits

13:49 - Getting into the community

15:26 - Lifecycle of the project from a CFO's perspective

18:05 - Career trajectory

22:57 - The challenge of putting together a good team

25:34 - Keeping it really Florida ...

27:53 - ... with a little bit of Texas

29:45 - A growing Blue Sky

33:28 - The Hot Seat Presented by KK Reset

As Executive Vice President and CFO of Blue Sky, Scott is responsible for overseeing project underwriting, managing debt and equity relationships, closing the company’s transactions, and overseeing project management after closing. Additionally, he handles the corporate finance responsibilities for the company. He is also in charge of the firm’s expansion into the Texas market.

Since joining the firm in 2014, he has closed 12 transactions with total project costs of $250 Million. These transactions have lead to the creation and preservation of over 1,500 affordable housing units.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast, we welcome Peter LiFari, Executive Director at Maiker Housing Partners, an owner, operator and developer of high quality multifamily affordable housing in Colorado. We talk with Peter about how an experience in the third grade influenced him to work in affordable housing. We also take an in-depth look at the affordable housing industry -- its needs and how impactful it can be for society, especially during moments of crisis. It's another episode you do not want to miss.

EPISODE NOTES:

02:33 - What is Maiker Housing Partners?

05:39 - The terms of engagement

08:16 - Bread and butter

10:30 - A red M&M

13:43 - Racial inequity

18:40 - A sea change

21:13 - Third grade experience

25:47 - The ethos of the business

27:05 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Peter is the Executive Director for Maiker Housing Partners, an organization whose mission is to disrupt generational poverty through socially conscious community development in Adams County, Colorado. Outside of his work in Adams County, he serves on the board of Directors at indieDwell, as Regional President of Mountain Plains NAHRO, and as Chairperson for the Adams County COVID-19 Housing Response and Recovery Task Force.

Maiker owns and operates a blended portfolio of 15 LIHTC, Public Housing and Non-Restricted communities throughout Adams County, CO with an annual operating budget of $65M, administers over $16M annually in HCV vouchers, serving 1,600 heads of households in addition to partnering with local stakeholders on numerous grants focused on disrupting generational poverty.

On this episode of the Impact Real Estate podcast, we welcome Sean Kelly — a Partner and Executive Vice President for LNWA who currently oversees affordable and market rate apartment development in the Mid-Atlantic states and Ohio. Sean talks us through his upbringing in the real estate business, the life of an affordable housing deal, and he gives a huge piece of advice to those looking to break into the affordable housing space. It's another high impact episode of the Impact Real Estate Podcast you do not want to miss.

EPISODE NOTES:

02:42 - LNWA’s history

04:10 - Focused on low income tax credit

06:17 - The affordable housing pivot

08:22 - It starts locally

11:42 - Finding the right tenants

13:13 - The supportive service component

15:17 - Upcoming changes to affordable housing

17:11 - Growing up in the business

20:32 - Understanding the impact

23:38 - Breaking into the affordable housing industry

25:49 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Sean has extensive experience structuring complex real estate transactions with emphasis on combining tax credits with state, local, and private financing sources. Since joining LNWA in 2010, Sean has led development teams producing or preserving more than 1400 apartments in 6 states with total investment in excess of $290M. Prior to joining LNWA, Sean held roles in the technology sector with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and as an early employee at a venture capital backed startup.

Sean is a member of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) serving on the Housing Credit Group Advisory Board, the Multifamily Board of Trustees and holds the HCCP professional designation. Locally, Sean is a member of the Board of Directors for the DE Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) and is a member of the CDFI Advisory Board for Cinnaire. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Delaware.