Philadelphia Multifamily and Affordable Housing Forum

Kelvin Jeremiah served as President and CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the fourth largest public housing authority in the United States and the largest provider of affordable housing in Pennsylvania, since March 2013. Since his arrival at PHA in 2011, first as Director of Audit and Compliance and then as Administrative Receiver, Mr. Jeremiah implemented a comprehensive set of organizational and financial reforms and completed a Recovery Plan that addressed all of the management and governance deficiencies, which led to the removal of the HUD Administrative Receivership and ultimately resulted in the return of PHA to local control. In addition, he forged a collaborative working relationship with PHA resident leaders, which has provided them with greater say within the organization and resulted in the implementation of programs such as entrepreneurship and start-up business training and coaching for PHA youth and residents. During the pandemic, resident leaders worked with PHA staff and Temple University’s College of Public Health to sign up and offer free Coronavirus vaccinations at PHA sites located in some of the most vulnerable zip codes. PHA also partnered with other partners at Temple University to provide improved access to health services during the pandemic. Responding to the recent rise in food insecurity, including youth who no longer could participate in school-based meal programs, PHA partnered with resident leaders to provide free meals to over 8,000 children. Meals were also distributed to senior citizens and families in partnership with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging. The early reform actions taken by Mr. Jeremiah laid the foundation for a series of transformational initiatives to preserve and expand affordable housing, revitalize neighborhoods through equitable development, and promote economic and educational opportunities for PHA residents and clients. To date, he has overseen the construction, rehabilitation, and/or preservation of over 4,500 affordable housing units; repositioned and preserved PHA’s public housing portfolio through conversion to project-based assistance under the Rental Assistance Demonstration program that has closed on over 1,600 units at 24 developments as of April 2021; and, leveraged over $1.1 billion in construction activity. This includes over 600 new public housing units completed or under construction at 15 developments sponsored by local partners and over 3,900 long-term affordable units completed or under construction at 61 housing developments sponsored by PHA or local partners. To breathe life into communities in disrepair, developers must focus on creating opportunities for people as well as new housing. This comprehensive approach to holistic and equitable neighborhood development is underway now in Sharswood/Blumberg, where PHA, in collaboration with the City, residents, and an array of committed partners, is revitalizing the neighborhood that has suffered through decades of disinvestment and closures of businesses and services. It was the site of the former Blumberg public housing development, making it one of the City’s most distressed, poverty-impacted communities. In addition to his focus on redevelopment and neighborhood revitalization, Mr. Jeremiah expanded PHA’s partnership with the City to provide up to 500 permanent housing opportunities each year for homeless families and individuals. He also reallocated resources so that over 2,000 additional rental vouchers could be issued and leased up to households from PHA’s years-long wait list. Over this same period, he significantly enhanced PHA’s first-time homeownership programs, which offer the keys to successful homeownership: credit repair, housing counseling, and, in some cases, financial support and incentives to create and build savings. These initiatives have put more than 475 public housing and voucher program participants on the path to homeownership, a primary means of wealth creation.

Andrew Kadish is the President of CAPREIT and is responsible for the day-to-day administration of all Company matters. Mr. Kadish is a member of the Bars of New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as a member of Young Presidents' Organization (YPO). Prior to joining CAPREIT in 2005, Mr. Kadish served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diane Pincus of the New Jersey Superior Court. Mr. Kadish holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the Villanova University School of Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kadish is a member of the Bars of New Jersey and Pennsylvania

David Cardwell is director of production and sales for Freddie Mac Multifamily’s Small Balance Loan business. He oversees all small multifamily loan production activity, manages lender education and performance, and leads a nationwide production team that works with lenders in-market to originate small multifamily loans to Freddie Mac. David has over 26 years of experience in the multifamily industry serving in a wide range of positions including finance, development, public policy, and government. Prior to Freddie Mac, David served as vice president of Capital Markets at the National Multifamily Housing Council in Washington, D.C., where he oversaw all finance and capital markets policy and regulatory affairs for the organization’s 2,500 members. He also has worked for Trammell Crow Residential and its construction subsidiary, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City of Falls Church, Virginia, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. David holds a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Kyle Speece joined Conifer Realty in 2017 and currently serves as Regional Vice President of Development. In this capacity, he is responsible for new business identification and all facets of project management for Conifer’s development efforts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Specifically, his responsibilities include: originating new affordable, mixed-income, and/or mixed-use development opportunities; identifying lending and equity sources for new projects; assembling and supervising all outside professionals; overseeing and coordinating the preparation and submission of funding applications; leading financial closings; ensuring adherence to project budgets and schedules; and coordinating construction, lease-up, and management activities among departments of the Conifer organization. He allocates time between the Company’s offices in Columbia, MD, Mount Laurel, NJ and Philadelphia, PA.

Philip Balderston is the Founder and CEO of Odin Properties, a diversified real estate investment and management firm with over 3,000 multifamily units and 200,000 square feet of commercial space. Prior to starting Odin, he was the director of Acquisitions and Finance at Philadelphia-based Tower Investments, Inc., responsible for financing various development projects and asset management. Before joining Tower, Philip was an Acquisition and Development Analyst at The KOR Group in Los Angeles. He has a profound understanding of real estate finance and economics, economic cycles, and community development, having completed over 600MM of real estate transactions as a Principal. Philip had also held an analyst and asset management position at Amerimar Enterprises in Philadelphia, is a graduate of the William Penn Charter School in East Falls, and holds a degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in Real Estate Finance and Urban Studies from the Wharton School.

Tracey Ungaretta is managing director of real estate for Greystar. Stationed in the New Jersey area, Tracey is an integral part of the Northeast Team, and oversees assets in the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania markets. She joined Greystar in 2012, and began her multifamily career in 1991. A sophisticated and agile professional, Tracey’s background includes marketing, financial performance, and overall property operations. Her strength in property operations has allowed her to make an immediate impact on the assets she oversees, leading them to financial and operational success. Her diversified portfolio includes lease-up and stabilized assets and renovations with multiple components.

Since joining the Martin Architectural Group in 2007 Dan has focused his efforts on Multi-Family Residential and Mixed-Use projects. His responsibilities include: client representation, project proposals, conceptual designs, construction documentation, coordination and on-site construction administration. From concept meeting to project close out, Dan works directly with the client and the design team to integrate building design. He regularly attends industry events, is jointly responsible for business development and is an active public speaker. Prior to joining The Martin Architectural Group, Dan led a twelve-person team as a Studio Leader at Toll Brothers, primarily on residential and clubhouse projects. He is a graduate of Drexel University and a member of ULI, NCARB, NAHB, Delaware Green Building Council and ICSC. Two of Dan’s passions are supporting and more often than not, judging the “Build a House...Build a Dream" event for Habitat for Humanity and getting a team together and raising awareness and dollars for the “The Dude Hates Cancer” event.

Richard, a lawyer by training, in 1985 founded the Wentworth Group (now FirstService Residential) which over the next 15 years grew into one of the largest residential real estate management firms in the United States. In 2002, he sold Wentworth to FirstService Corporation (FSRV - NASDAQ), at that time, Wentworth was serving a management portfolio consisting of more than 100,000 residential units. As Founder and CEO of FirstService Financial, Inc. and a member of FirstService Corporation senior management team, Richard developed a highly accretive ancillary service platform for FirstService while assisting FirstService in its ascent to industry dominance in residential management and exceptional shareholder performance. In 2004 Richard aligned with his current partner, Jeffrey Goldstein, sharing the helm at Multifamily Management Services and affiliates (MMS) and GoldOller. Richard graduated from Temple University, Summa Cum Laude and President’s Scholar, and graduated first in his class from the Beasley School of Law at Temple University.

John Rilling is an assurance partner in RSM’s Pennsylvania market, and leads the Real Estate industry group in Philadelphia. John has over 25 years of industry experience, which includes real estate, manufacturing, distribution and nonprofits. He has worked with developers of both commercial and multi-family rental projects, including REITs. In addition, he has expertise in historic tax credit transactions, and has provided related forecast, cost certification, financial statement audit, and tax services to developers and investors. John is a former member of the Pennsylvania State Accounting and Auditing Standards Committee, and has served as a discussion leader for a number of continuing education seminars. John is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration with honors from La Salle University.