NYC Affordable Housing Series: Accessibility

Ron Moelis is a co-founder of L+M Development Partners and its affiliated companies, with a principle focus on the development of affordable housing. He is a founding member of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, an advisory board member of the New York City Housing Partnership, and sits on the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York. Ron also serves on the Board of Trustees of New York University School of Law, Board of Trustees of John Jay College and Board of Trustees for Montefiore Health Systems. He is also on the National Advisory Board at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania, the Advisory Board at the Furman Center at New York University, and the Mt. Sinai Surgery Advisory Board. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he holds both a BA in history and a BS in economics from the Wharton School, and a JD from New York University. In 2012, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year for Real Estate by Ernst & Young for his many years of innovation and creativity in real estate finance and development.

A well-known figure in New York City's affordable housing community, Louise Carroll has the depth of experience to steer clients through the financial and legal complexities of affordable housing and mixed-income housing projects. With a distinguished career in public service that spanned over 20 years, including a tenure as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and chair of the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the city's bond issuer, Louise has a keen understanding of the policies and processes that developers and project owners must navigate. Clients benefit from the knowledge and tools that Louise acquired throughout her years in public service, during which she earned a reputation as a highly effective agent of change. She served for nearly 15 years in HPD, working to produce and preserve affordable housing across New York City. Appointed as HPD commissioner and chair of HDC by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in May 2019, Louise managed over 1 billion dollars in city and federal funds to finance one of the most significant and complex affordable housing plans in the country. During her tenure, she pushed the plan's goal of 300,000 units ahead of schedule by two years. Prior to leading HPD, Louise developed a deep understanding of the affordable housing framework while holding several leadership positions there, including assistant commissioner for inclusionary housing and associate commissioner for housing incentives. In these positions, she worked to craft changes to New York City's tax programs to achieve greater affordability. Additionally, she led the team as one of the chief architects in designing and implementing the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program to require the creation of permanently affordable housing in conjunction with residential rezonings and streamlined the Voluntary Inclusionary Housing Program to increase production.

Managing Partner and CEO Jim Simmons serves as head of Asland Capital Partners’ investment committee and runs the day-to-day operations of the firm. With more than two decades of real estate investment experience, Mr. Simmons focuses on sourcing and structuring transactions through his deep relationships across the public and private sectors. Mr. Simmons was most recently a partner at Ares Management, where he ran the $485 million Ares Domestic Emerging Markets Fund, and he was previously a partner at Apollo Real Estate Advisors. Prior to his private equity fund management career, Mr. Simmons was president and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation. He held previous roles at Bankers Trust and Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Simmons holds a BS degree from Princeton University, an MS from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Master of Management degree from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Woody Victor has significant experience in real estate, private equity and management consulting and has advised on equity, debt and public financing for over $275 million in real estate and private equity transactions. In his capacity at Capalino+Company, Woody Victor advises private and not-for-profit clients on development, financing and community engagement strategy and execution for all types of housing and mixed-use projects. Prior to joining Capalino+Company, Woody led the Real Estate Development group at SOBRO – a leading affordable housing developer in the Bronx. He has also held senior leadership roles at Accenture, Viacom, a boutique private equity firm and an investment firm focused on the international high net worth segment. Woody is a Harlem resident and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and Electrical Engineering degree from Brown University.

David Quart, AICP, is the Northeast Regional Real Estate Market Leader at VHB, a national planning, engineering, and design firm with clients in the real estate, transportation, institutional, and energy markets. David leads the firm’s integrated real estate services practice to support new development, redevelopment, land acquisition, permitting compliance, and transportation improvements. Previously, David spent 14 years in New York City government, most recently as the Deputy Commissioner for Strategy, Research, and Communications and Chief of Staff to then-Commissioner Vicki Been at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. David was instrumental in helping to create the Housing New York plan and in the design and implementation of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. In his previous role as Senior Vice President of Development for the NYC Economic Development Corporation, he advanced and delivered transformational projects that strengthened the city’s affordable housing stock and central business districts and increased public access to the waterfront. David is also on the Board of Directors for the Regional Plan Association. He holds a BS in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Urban Planning from NYU Wagner where he also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.