Check out the panels and trainings we have lined up for you at Housing Oregon Sept. 24-25!
The Housing Oregon 2024 Conference and Awards Gala offers two days of workshops and networking opportunities for Oregon housers. It’s a once-a-year opportunity to share knowledge, foster collaboration, and celebrate industry successes.
Whether you’re a beginning or experienced affordable housing professional, a board member, or an executive leader, you’ll find a topic of interest in the 5 training sessions and panel presentations our team has put together for you.
We hope to see you at the conference, starting Tuesday Sept. 24 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 1000 NE Multnomah St., Portland. Stop by our sponsor booth and say hello!
Here’s a quick guide to HDC’s sessions, including titles, times, and locations. Scroll down for complete descriptions.
Presented by HDC:
Developing and Owning Affordable Housing 101: What Board Members and Organizational Leaders Should Know
Tue., Sept. 24, 1:45-3:15 p.m., Oregon Room
From Feasibility to Stabilization: How Asset Managers and Developers Can Collaborate to Create Operationally Resilient Affordable Housing Properties
Tue., Sept. 24, 3:30-5:30 p.m., Alaska/Idaho Room
Development 201: Financial Pro Forma Strategies for Affordable Housing Development
Wed., Sept. 25, 9-10:15 a.m., Oregon Room
Regional Long-term Rental Assistance (RLRA) and the Risk Mitigation Program
Wed., Sept. 25, 10:30-11:45 a.m., Mt. Bachelor Room
Understanding Affordable Rental Housing Rents: From Calculation to Implementation
Wed., Sept. 25, 1:45-3:15 p.m., Oregon Room
Featuring HDC Staff:
Mentoring the Next Generation of Affordable Housing Talent
Tue., Sept, 24, 10:30-11:45 a.m., Ross Island/Morrison Room
Lunch Plenary: Addressing and Restructuring Troubled Affordable Housing Projects
Wed., Sept. 25, 12:00-1:30 p.m., Main Ballroom and overflow in Ross Island/Morrison
More Details
Developing and Owning Affordable Housing 101: What Board Members and Organizational Leaders Should Know
Are you a leader of a nonprofit or housing authority? Are you involved in deciding whether affordable housing ownership is the right path for your organization? Are you a board member or executive leader who is new to developing and owning affordable housing? This workshop will cover foundational information that those involved in making affordable housing development and ownership decisions should know. We’ll offer an overview of the affordable housing landscape, the development process, and available funding strategies. You’ll come away with a stronger understanding of the opportunities, challenges, and risks involved in being a developer and housing owner. You can expect plenty of time for questions and opportunities for audience members to share their experiences.
Presenters:
Travis Phillips, Director of Real Estate Development, Housing Development Center
Julie Proksch, Director of Real Estate Development, Housing Development Center
Nathan Teske, Executive Director, Bienestar
Development 201: Financial Pro Forma Strategies for Affordable Housing Development
Take a look under the hood of financial modeling for affordable rental housing projects. Senior management, board members, and others less familiar with pro forma development will learn critical components of financial models. For development staff particularly emerging professionals, the workshop will offer practical lessons to help work smarter, not harder. Participants will learn the basics of creating financial pro formas, how to move quickly to go/no-go decisions, and prioritize where financial assumptions should be refined. Key topics will include projecting hard and soft costs before receiving formal estimates, quickly estimating operating revenues and expenses, and making debt service calculations. We’ll look at capital stack structuring specific to affordable housing financing and examine how to identify potential gaps early on and align strategies with funder priorities. We’ll use case studies to illustrate strategies and principles to inform decision-making, address common challenges, and understand what questions to ask along the way.
Presenters:
Travis Phillips, Director of Real Estate Development, Housing Development Center
Jessica Blakely, Salem Housing Authority - Development & Strategy
From Feasibility to Stabilization: How Asset Managers and Developers Can Collaborate to Create Operationally Resilient Affordable Housing Properties
Affordable housing properties are being slammed by exploding operating costs, lagging revenues, and excessive demands on property management. To set up new projects to survive and thrive in today’s extraordinarily challenging operating environment, housing teams are learning to do things differently—and this panel of expert asset managers are leading the way. They will share their experiences collaborating with development teams to set up new projects for success—by taking a seat at the table from early feasibility through stabilization. Whether you are an asset manager or a developer, you’ll walk away from this presentation with inspiring stories, practical ideas, and better questions to bring to your housing team. This session is designed for housing professionals at all stages of their careers.
Presenters:
Kimberly Taylor, Director of Asset Management, Housing Development Center (moderator)
Juli Garvey, Director of Asset Management, Home Forward
Mary Eileen Langsdorf Hanson, Senior Asset Manager, Community Development Partners
Natalie Thornton, Asset Program Manager, Community Partners for Affordable Housing
Understanding Affordable Rental Housing Rents: From Calculation to Implementation
Understanding what rents can be charged at an affordable property is crucial to ensuring that property’s financial success, meeting funder compliance requirements, and minimizing rent burden for residents. Suitable for beginners and advanced affordable housing practitioners, this training session will provide an overview of how to calculate max rent, the OHCS rent increase process, and how to complete a rent analysis for a property that has multiple regulatory layers. Topics discussed will include LIHTC max rents, HOME rents, OAHTCs and passthrough, utility allowances, and project-based and tenant-based vouchers.
Presenters:
Jodi Erickson, Senior Asset Management Analyst, Oregon Housing and Community Services
Chrislyn Prantl, Assistant Director Portfolio Section, Oregon Housing and Community Services
J.R Rae-Ryan, Senior Asset Management Analyst, Oregon Housing and Community Services
Liz Winchester, Senior Asset Management Project Manager, Housing Development Center
Regional Long-term Rental Assistance (RLRA) and the Risk Mitigation Program
Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties continue to issue new tenant-based and project-based Regional Long-Term Rent Assistance (RLRA) vouchers. The RLRA program represents a unique regional approach to reducing barriers and promoting housing stability for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing houselessness. Properties that use RLRA vouchers receive many benefits, including access to robust supportive services. Join representatives of the counties and partners to learn more about the benefits of using and accepting tenant-based and project-based RLRA vouchers. A representative from Housing Development Center will be on hand to talk about the RLRA Risk Mitigation Program, which offers property owners who rent to RLRA-voucher-assisted tenants access to reimbursement for eligible physical damage or operational losses associated with RLRA units.
Presenters:
Jake Kirsch, Housing Development Center
Hannah Schmalz, Home Forward
Chelsea Blair, Washington County Department of Housing
Ashley Fenton, Clackamas County Housing & Community Development Division
Casey Kunzat, New Narrative
Jack Spaeth, New Narrative
Mentoring the Next Generation of Affordable Housing Talent
How do we bring passionate, smart, solution-finding employees into the affordable housing profession? Once onboarded, how do we mentor them and ensure they stay engaged to become the leadership that allows us to retire? We will have representation from government, nonprofit affordable housing providers, finance professionals, and housing development consultants to share their best practices for finding, training, and keeping employees so that your organization maintains its hard-won institutional knowledge and skilled workforce.
Presenters:
Linny Simkin, Executive Recruiter, Simkin Search Associates (moderator)
Maria Elena Guerra, Executive Director, Evolve Workforce & Multifamily Housing Services
Gina Leon, Senior Vice President, Umpqua Bank
Traci Manning, Executive Director, Housing Development Center
Ann Remmers, Deputy Director and Director of Learning, Network for Oregon Affordable Housing
Molly Rogers, Director of Housing Services, Washington County
Dee Walsh, CEO, Mercy Housing
Lunch Plenary: Addressing and Restructuring Troubled Affordable Housing Projects
This Lunchtime panel - will focus on practical strategies and solutions for the challenges faced by affordable housing projects, and expected continuing stress on interest rates, inflation, and affordability mean for developers, sponsors, and asset managers. The session will start with best practices for dealing with cost overruns, operating expense escalations and lease-up challenges to ensure project stability and success. Then, the discussion will speak to longer-term issues of the impact of rapid growth in PSH, organization sustainability, and the asset management challenges of the post-COVID period.
Presenters:
Michael Schrader, Senior Counsel, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (moderator)
Kathy Swift, Senior Vice President, Non-Profit Development Officer, Heritage Bank
Traci Manning, Executive Director, Housing Development Center
Kim Travis, Housing Integrator, Oregon Housing and Community Services