MYLOGO
SB: Bonds and Beyond
Bonds and Beyond-Enhancing Your Deal
George Littlejohn
Partner
Novogradac & Company LLP
George Littlejohn is a partner in the Austin, Texas, office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Littlejohn specializes in commercial real estate development, with an emphasis in affordable housing. He has extensive experience in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), the historic rehabilitation credit (HTC) and tax-exempt bond financed transactions, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He is a frequent speaker at numerous industry sponsored conferences and workshops and serves as chairman for Novogradac & Company’s annual housing conference in New Orleans. He also serves as technical editor for the firm’s Tax-Exempt Bond Handbook: A Tax Credit Practitioners Guide to Using Tax-Exempt Bonds for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Projects. In addition, Mr. Littlejohn represents the firm as a member of the Housing Credit Group of the National Association of Home Builders. He is the immediate past president for the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP), the leading organization of affordable housing professionals in Texas, representing the affordable housing industry. Mr. Littlejohn graduated from the University of South Carolina-Aiken with an undergraduate degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting. He received a master’s degree in accounting from the University of South Carolina and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Texas and Georgia.
Mike Boyle
Vice President
City Real Estate Advisors
Mike Boyle, vice president, is responsible for identifying, structuring, negotiating and closing low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) investment opportunities with a focus on the Southeast region of the United States. Mr. Boyle has been active in affordable housing finance since 2004; most recently serving as vice president with a real estate financial services company and focused on originating affordable debt and equity finance opportunities throughout the Southeast. Before that, Mr. Boyle worked for a nationally recognized tax credit syndicator and led the origination of investment opportunities throughout the East Coast. He received a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of South Florida and served in the U.S. Army.
Jim Gillespie
Senior Vice President
Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC
Jim Gillespie is senior vice president of Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC, where he focuses on loan origination and management of developer relationships for the firm. Mr. Gillespie has extensive experience in affordable housing and structuring debt and direct equity investments, having worked in these areas for more than 20 years. Before joining Bellwether, Mr. Gillespie was managing director at Hunt Mortgage Group, a national real estate financial services firm. Before Hunt, Mr. Gillespie was founding managing director of Red Stone Partners, where he helped build and manage their proprietary tax-exempt bond funds and before that, senior vice president at Related Companies, a New York-based real estate development firm where he was involved in the financing and acquisition of more than $2 billion in properties nationwide. Preceding his career in commercial real estate, Mr. Gillespie was a city planner for a public development authority in Louisville, Ky.. Mr. Gillespie is active on a number of civic, philanthropic and industry organizations and serves on the boards of NYSAFAH, Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council and National Housing & Rehabilitation Association. Mr. Gillespie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hanover College, a master’s degree in urban and regional planning and development from the University of Louisville, and a master’s degree in real estate development from Columbia University.
Tammy Ofek
Managing Director
CapM Funding
Tammy Ofek is the managing director of CapM Funding, a capital markets consulting firm specializing in derivatives and reinvestment solutions for the tax-exempt and taxable marketplace. She is nationally recognized throughout the municipal finance and housing markets as a leading swap and derivatives adviser to the real estate development industry, tax credit participants, lenders, municipal issuers, corporations, nonprofit organizations and other users of tax-exempt debt instruments. Ms. Ofek has executed more than $10 billion in various derivative agreements, including interest rate swaps, caps, floors, collars, guaranteed investment contracts and other derivative instruments for more than 20 years.
Paul J. Weissman
Senior Managing Director
Hunt Mortgage Group
Paul J. Weissman is senior managing director and head of originations for affordable housing finance at Hunt Mortgage Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunt Companies. Mr. Weissman has nearly 20 years of experience in multifamily housing. His experience includes development, tax credit syndication, lending and investment banking. He has financed more than $1 billion of affordable and market-rate multifamily transactions in his career, including transactions involving nearly every form of assistance available to affordable housing developments. Mr. Weissman has experience with tax-exempt bond financing, Section 8 subsidies, Section 202 and Section 236 subsidies, low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs), HOPE VI, the FHA tax credit pilot program and many others on affordable communities, stretching from Connecticut to Hawaii. Before joining Hunt Mortgage Group, Mr. Weissman was a senior vice president at Dougherty & Company, a director with Credit-Suisse and a vice president at Newman Capital, where he was responsible for the purchase of unrated tax-exempt bonds in highly structured transactions to facilitate the new construction as well as acquisition and rehabilitation of LIHTC properties. Mr. Weissman began his career in affordable housing as associate general counsel for Simpson Housing Limited Partnership. Mr. Weissman holds a master’s degree from the Leeds School of Business and a juris doctor from the University Of Colorado School Of Law.
Cody Wilson
Director
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company Inc.
Cody Wilson is a director with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated in Atlanta. With more than 12 years of experience in municipal and corporate finance, Mr. Wilson has worked on more than $4 billion of municipal finance transactions, primarily in the multifamily housing, senior housing and student housing sector. Mr. Wilson has worked on virtually every major type of multifamily housing bond financing, including various conduit financing structures, private placements, FHA/GNMA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other credit-enhanced deals. Before joining Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Mr. Wilson worked for Anderson Growth Partners, a hedge fund specializing in less-efficient markets and alternative investments. Mr. Wilson is a frequent speaker at multifamily housing and tax-credit conferences across the United States. In addition, Mr. Wilson authors a monthly newsletter entitled The Monthly Housing Call. Mr. Wilson received his bachelor’s degree in finance and his master’s degree from Troy University.