Thursday, March 21, 2013 — 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Filling the Equitable TOD Financing Gap
Equitable transit-oriented development (TOD) supports the delivery of key elements that promote social equity and opportunities for low-income people. This approach can result in healthier residents, vibrant neighborhoods, and strong regional economies but is complex and requires a high level of regional collaboration for success. Enterprise Community Partners and the Low Income Investment Fund were engaged by Living Cities to study and identify ways to make equitable TOD easier to finance and build. This session will explore the findings of that work with a discussion about equitable TOD financing tools from four regions that will highlight the distinct economic, transportation, political, geographic, and social contexts, and the resulting TOD projects, lessons, and impact in these areas.

Speaker Biographies and Presentations

Brian Prater, Low Income Investment Fund (moderator)
Brian Prater is the senior vice president for Strategic Development & Corporate Affairs at the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF). LIIF is a national Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in San Francisco. LIIF is one of the largest affordable housing, education, and child care facility lenders in the country, and is a five-time recipient of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) awards. Prater oversees LIIF’s federal policy shop, national fundraising, communications, knowledge sharing, transit-oriented development (TOD), and innovation functions. Previously, Prater led LIIF’s lending and program work in the Western Region, overseeing the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, including all transactional work, TOD, and green programs as well as state and regional policy. LIIF is partnering with Enterprise Community Partners to advance equitable TOD nationally, including program, planning, policy, and transactional work. In March of 2013, Living Cities released a paper titled “Filling the Equitable TOD Financing Gap” that Prater and Melinda Pollack from Enterprise coauthored.

Prior to joining LIIF in 2008, Prater was a senior vice president and team leader in Community Development Banking with Bank of America in San Francisco, and was responsible for the northern California and Nevada markets. He also spent seven years with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and three years with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Prater has master’s degrees from Columbia University (School of International and Public Affairs) and Syracuse University (S. I. Newhouse School) and a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University.

Kim McKay, BRIDGE Housing

• Presentation
  

Kim McKay joined BRIDGE Housing as executive vice president in 2010. BRIDGE is a leading nonprofit developer, owner, and manager of affordable housing. At BRIDGE, McKay oversees the company’s real estate development activities in southern California, including a range of mixed-use, mixed-finance projects such as COMM22 and Celadon at 9th & Broadway in San Diego. Previously, she was senior vice president at the Related Companies of California, where she managed all aspects of developing multifamily affordable housing projects on the West Coast with a focus on large public housing revitalization projects. Prior to that, she was vice president for Related Capital Company, where her accomplishments included investing approximately $75 million of tax credit equity, closing 25 projects in ten states, and developing a market presence for the company in a new region. McKay previously served as a senior project manager for the Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition and worked as an architect and planning and development manager for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. She is a licensed architect and holds a BA in architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and an MS in real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Melinda Pollack, Enterprise Community Partners
Melinda Pollack is vice president, transit-oriented development (TOD), at Enterprise Community Partners Inc. She oversees Enterprise’s national initiatives dedicated to TOD and vulnerable populations.

Melinda is based in Enterprise’s Denver office. She joined the staff in 2007 to focus on TOD financing solutions and policy efforts for the Denver region. Through this effort she guided the creation of the Denver TOD Fund, a $15 million tool for preservation and land acquisition for affordable housing. She currently cochairs Mile High Connects, a collaboration of more than 20 philanthropies and nonprofits dedicated to ensuring that all people benefit from the Denver region’s transportation expansion, with an agenda focused on transportation, housing, jobs, education, and health. Melinda leads Enterprise’s technical assistance team supporting federal Sustainable Communities Initiative grantees and supports colleagues working to implement transit-oriented agendas in six regions across the country.

Melinda also guides Enterprise’s national agenda on housing and services for seniors and formerly homeless populations. She oversees private and federal grants programs and supports innovative learning practices and the creation of improved financing tools for integrated housing and services for seniors.

Prior to joining Enterprise, Melinda was vice president for strategic initiatives at Mercy Housing, providing consulting services related to affordable housing for health care systems and religious communities and leading Mercy’s affordable housing preservation activities. Melinda holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and human services from the George Washington University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado.