MYLOGO
SB: Partnerships
Partnerships-Dealing with Hot Button Issues
Christina Apostolidis
Partner
Novogradac & Company LLP
Christina Apostolidis is a partner in the Naples, Fla., office of Novogradac & Company LLP, where she focuses on providing audit and tax services to the real estate industry. Since joining the firm in 2007, Ms. Apostolidis has been involved in the accounting, auditing, forecasting and compliance of developments subject to the regulatory requirements of the low-income housing (LIHTC) and historic tax credit (HTC) programs and tax-exempt bond-financed transactions. She also has worked extensively with equity sponsors specializing in equity fund audit and tax consulting. Before joining the firm, she provided audit and tax services to the real estate industry, which included working with clients involved in real estate partnerships, limited liability companies and joint ventures for residential, retail and hospitality developments. Ms. Apostolidis received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in accounting from Baruch College. She is licensed as a certified public accountant in Ohio and New York.
Marlene Nations
Partner
Dentons
Marlene Nations is a partner in Dentons' real estate practice and is widely recognized as one of Chicago's most versatile practitioners. She is especially known for her experience in multifamily housing, having represented owners and developers in the construction and financing of more than 4,000 new multifamily units, including the recent acquisition and financing of a downtown Chicago high-rise containing 332 apartment units. Ms. Nations also counsels clients in connection with the acquisition, development, ownership, financing and sale of all types of commercial real estate, from residential mixed-use complexes to high-rise office properties in major metropolitan areas. Of note, Ms. Nations’ 2011 representation of Hartz Mountain Industries in its acquisition of a luxury rental apartment building in Chicago, was named a Wall Street Journal "Deal of the Week." In addition to structuring highly complex transactions, Ms. Nations represents numerous clients on restructurings of distressed real estate assets. She regularly and adeptly handles contentious multi-property workouts, deed in lieu of foreclosures and single-asset dispositions. Ms. Nations is also widely recognized for her capabilities in the field of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and affordable housing, having represented developers, lenders and investors in numerous projects across the country. She is particularly well-versed in the requirements of government lending agencies for market-rate and low-income housing developments. Ms. Nations speaks regularly on these issues and on a variety of other topics relating to affordable housing, she has presented on workouts at the American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing and she has served as a panelist on the Equity Market for Developers panel at the Novogradac Tax Credit Housing Developers Conference.
Victor Sostar
Executive Vice President
First Sterling Financial Inc.
Victor Sostar is an executive vice president of First Sterling Financial Inc., where he is responsible for the oversight of acquisitions, new business development and strategic corporate growth. He oversees originations, structuring, underwriting and closing of affordable and new business development transactions to assure consistency with First Sterling’s investment guidelines and objectives. Mr. Sostar has expertise in structuring complex transactions involving tax-exempt bonds, mixed-use, mixed-financed, historic rehabilitation tax credits (HTCs) and state tax credits. He manages developer and investor relationships. Additionally, as senior vice president of First Sterling’s mortgage brokerage affiliate, he assists developers with placing construction and permanent debt. Mr. Sostar serves on the Strategic Corporate and Investment Committees. Mr. Sostar has more than 30 years of experience in real estate, architecture and finance, joining First Sterling 18 years ago. Previously, Mr. Sostar was vice president of Value Properties, a real estate private equity firm, where he acquired, structured and financed developments nationwide. Additionally, as an officer of Value Properties’ investment banking affiliate, Mr. Sostar originated and underwrote commercial mortgages for securitization. As an officer with R.H. Shapiro & Co. and later with Ginsburg Development, he acquired and developed large-scale multifamily properties. Mr. Sostar began his career in architecture and consulting engineering. Mr. Sostar holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Pratt Institute, a master’s degree in finance from Hofstra University and a diploma from New York University in real estate and investment analysis. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences.
Kelly Boyer
HUD FHA/MAP Director
Citi Community Capital
Kelly Boyer joined the Citi Community Capital (CCC) team in July 2014 as HUD FHA/MAP director and is focused upon launching the CCC FHA multifamily platform. Before joining CCC, Ms. Boyer was the owner and manager of K2U LLC, an independent consulting services company specializing in HUD multifamily and public housing redevelopment, HUD rental assistance programs and FHA financing. Ms. Boyer has a particular focus on affordable deals with FHA financing and layered secondary sources such as low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs), rural development, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME funds and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) as well as local sources of funding. Before starting her own company, Ms. Boyer was a partner in a California-based development company that focused upon the acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of HUD rental assisted projects with LIHTCs and bonds. Ms. Boyer is the former director of HUD’s Los Angeles Multifamily hub and left the office in mid-2012. During her tenure at HUD, she assisted the department with aligning FHA resources to work more closely with LIHTCs and other sources of financing; worked closely with state agencies to remove obstacles to FHA financing on affordable transactions; was a key member of the FHA Commissioner’s Risk Mitigation team revising FHA underwriting standards; was an original member of the FHA National Loan Committee; and assisted in the development of key preservation programs; such as the §236 prepayment process and preservation program; and, the FHA LIHTC Pilot Program.
Juana D. Mejia
Director
Catholic Housing Management of Miami
Juana D. Mejia has more than 23 years of property and asset management experience. Ms. Mejia has extensive experience and has held positions such as property manager, regional manager, management company director, asset manager, trainer and consultant for a number of nonprofit affordable housing organizations. Ms. Mejia is the vice president of elderly services for Catholic Housing Management, a ministry of the Archdiocese of Miami, where she oversees 16 elderly HUD-subsidized properties with close to 2,500 units and more than 90 employees throughout Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Ms. Mejia is also an instructor of asset management courses for NeighborWorks America, CHAM and LISC. Ms. Mejia became recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative administrators of nonprofit affordable housing including conventional, tax credit, HOME, SAIL, Section 8, HUD 202 and PRACs. Ms. Mejia has helped organizations to increase their portfolio by more than 100 percent, increased occupancy/collections and set up monitoring systems to ensure long-term viability of their assets. Ms. Mejia is a graduate of the emerging leaders program at the University of Massachusetts. Ms. Mejia is also fluently bilingual (English/Spanish), and holds several professional certifications, including Certified Financial Manager (CFM) from the National Center for Housing Management, Accredited Residential Manager (ARM), CPM Candidate from the Institute of Real Estate Management, Nonprofit Housing Management Specialist (NHMS) from the Consortium for Housing and Asset Management and Tax Credit Housing Certification (C3P), Certified Occupancy Specialist (COS) from NHCM.