Affordable Housing

Jeff Sacks is a leading community development attorney. His clients include large community development corporations, senior housing providers and housing authorities as well as a variety of large institutional service providers. He often represents nonprofit organizations that are embarking on major real estate projects that allow their organizations to deliver their services in new and innovative ways.

Bruce A. Percelay is chairman and founder of The Mount Vernon Company, a real estate investment firm considered among the leading apartment landlords in Massachusetts. The company has grown over the past 30 years to include approximately 1,600 apartments, 5 hotels, as well as select commercial and vacation properties. The company received the Community Excellence Award from the Rental Housing Association of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, the Paragon Award for Industry excellence by the National Apartment Association, Best Landlord in Boston by Boston Magazine and Best Places to Work in Boston by the Boston Business Journal. Percelay created the Allston Green District, an eleven building assemblage which was the largest new construction project in Allston in over half a century. The three centerpiece buildings in the Green District set a new standard for environmentally sensitive living and have won over nine awards for their forward- thinking sustainable design. Percelay began his career in advertising and helped manage the marketing efforts for Parker Brother's Games, Keds Sneakers, and Converse Athletic Shoes. He is also credited with the development of the idea for Sunkist Orange Soda, the most successful new soft drink launch in the history of the industry. Combining his marketing savvy with his real estate experience, Percelay next authored the top selling business book, Packaging Your Home for Profit, published by Little Brown and Company. The success of the book prompted appearances on CNN, Good Morning America and over 50 newspapers and magazines around the country. Percelay pioneered the concept of marketing and staging homes for sale and has used the theories in his book to build The Mount Vernon Company to where it is today. Percelay has recently created a boutique hotel division of The Mount Vernon Company including 21 Broad, rated by Conde Nast as the top new boutique hotel in the world. The hotels are strategically located in resort communities including: Nantucket, Newport, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Camden, Maine as well as a 200- room hotel in Boston. Extremely active in support of the communities in which he lives, Percelay was the driving force behind the construction of Nantucket's new whaling museum, the most significant new building on the island in the last 100 years and is chairman of the $120 million capital campaign for the new Nantucket hospital. He is also a Presidents Council Board Member of Massachusetts General Hospital. Percelay was the chairman of the Massachusetts chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, helping it to become the most successful in the country, and chairman of Habitat for Humanity in Boston where he launched the largest urban project ever built in America during his tenure. Percelay is the publisher of N Magazine, a publication he co-founded 15 years ago. The magazine is the leading publication of its kind on the island, has won national awards for its quality and boasts the highest income demographic of any seasonal magazine in America In recognition of his significant service to his community, Percelay was the recipient of the Ten Outstanding Leaders award from the Boston Chamber of Commerce, as one of Boston’s top leaders in The Boston Globe’s Leaders of Boston book and received the Outstanding Achievement Award from YouthBuild Boston. Percelay received a special commendation by former Senator John Kerry for his contributions to Boston which appear in the permanent archives of the United States Congressional Record and was recently honored by the Children’s Advocacy Center for his support of children’s issues. Percelay currently serves on the board of the Rappaport Institute at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is honorary chairman of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital capital campaign. Bruce shares his time between Nantucket and Boston with his wife Elisabeth and two sons William and Charlie. He is an avid boater, tennis player, and is a collector of vintage automobiles.

Gemma Sanders Geldmacher is a Senior Director and loan originator specializing in multifamily debt financing, with a specialty focus on affordable and HUD/FHA transactions. Prior to her originations career, Gemma was a Fannie Mae and FHA underwriter for over 10 years, most recently as part of Berkadia’s FHA underwriting management team and loan committee. Her well-rounded commercial real estate experience also includes stints at a bridge/mezzanine lender, a property management firm, and real estate consulting. She resides in Hingham, Massachusetts with her husband, adorable daughter, and once she has a house plant that lives more than a year, she might break down and get a dog as well.

Beverly Gallo joined Peregrine in 2012 as the lead principal in the Peregrine Urban Initiative, a new business line focused on the pursuit of development opportunities in emerging, transitional and underdeveloped urban neighborhoods. Prior to joining Peregrine, Beverly was the Principal of Byer Gallo Associates LLC (BGA), an independent consulting firm created in 1997 to assist private, not-for- profit and public sector clients in the planning, development and preservation of distinctive affordable housing and economic development initiatives. Beverly brings over 25 years of experience in the design, construction and (often creative) finance of mixed-use/mixed- income real estate development. Her unique combination of business and community-based development skills have served to complete challenging (re)development projects in urban communities large and small. Prior to launching BGA, Beverly worked as the Director of Development for the South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation and as Senior Project Manager for Robinson Mills + Williams Architects in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also served as a Project Manager for The Flatley Company in Braintree, MA. She holds a Master Degree in Urban Studies and Planning and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.