DCHFA Makes Key Appointment and Rebrands Public Finance Division

Agency Names Christopher E. Donald, Director of Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investment

Washington, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency’s (DCHFA) Executive Director Todd A. Lee makes his first appointment of Fiscal Year 2017 by naming Christopher E. Donald, Director of Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investments (formerly the Public Finance department).

“Christopher’s background in real estate finance and zeal for community building is the precise combination of skills and approach necessary to lead DCHFA’s multifamily division,” remarked Executive Director Lee on Donald’s hiring. Donald will manage the day-to-day operations of the Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investments department. During Fiscal Year 2016, the unit financed 14 developments, which will result in the production or preservation of 2,090 affordable units for D.C. residents.

Upon joining DCHFA Donald stated “I look forward to expanding DCHFA’s footprint in the preservation and creation of affordable housing in the District of Columbia.” Donald brings over 15 years of experience to the Agency in real estate finance, community building, project development, land entitlement and construction. He has entitled over 1MM square feet of mixed income, transit oriented and amenity rich housing. Donald is also skilled in structuring low-income housing, historic and new market tax credits. He has completed over $1billion in real estate financing during the course of his career and renovated over 1,000 multifamily units.

Prior to his tenure at DCHFA, Donald served as the Principal and Co-Founder of The Leidesdorff Group. The Leidesdorff Group (TLG) is a diversified real estate advisory firm focused on the regeneration of urban communities within the Mid-Atlantic region. As a principal of TLG, Donald focused on distressed and disinvested urban communities. Throughout his career, Donald has served in leadership roles in for-profit, mission based and public agencies to advance the cause of affordable housing. Donald is a member of the Urban Land Institute and graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Through its Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investment division, DCHFA issues tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds to lower the developers’ costs of acquiring, constructing and rehabilitating rental housing. The Agency offers private for-profit and non-profit developers low cost predevelopment, construction and permanent financing that supports the new construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing in the District.

The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency was established in 1979 to stimulate and expand homeownership and rental housing opportunities in Washington, D.C. We accomplish our mission by offering below market rate mortgage loans to lower the homebuyers’ costs of purchasing homes and by issuing mortgage revenue bonds to lower the developers’ costs of acquiring, constructing and rehabilitating rental housing.

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Contact: Yolanda McCutchen
October 12, 2016 (202) 777-1650