A major affordable housing developer has hired a new executive to lead one of the three new business lines it launched to build new rental units and preserve existing ones.
Standard Communities, based in New York and Los Angeles, brought in Feras Qumseya as chief development officer to oversee its new construction division.
Qumseya will focus on leveraging financing from the 4% low-income housing tax credit program to build affordable housing units in major metropolitan areas. The program under the Department of Housing and Urban Development includes construction financed by tax-exempt bonds.
Based in Washington, D.C., Qumseya has more than 20 years of experience in affordable housing, economic development, transit-oriented developments and public-private partnerships.
He joined Standard Communities from Foulger-Pratt Cos., a real estate investment and development firm, where served as vice president of development responsible for creating and building a program to develop and preserve affordable housing across the country.
Qumseya has hit the ground running, according to Jeffrey Jaeger, a co-founder and principal of Standard Communities.
“He has already committed Standard to several exciting new construction projects in Maryland and Virginia, and we look forward to seeing them come to life, furthering our mission of providing high-quality, affordable housing,” Jaeger said in a statement.
Company Expansion
In addition to the new construction division, Standard Communities launched an acquisition redevelopment division and an essential housing business.
Since the start of 2022 Standard Communities has grown its staff by more than 20%, the firm said.
“As Standard continues to grow, we are bringing together focused, specialized teams dedicated to executing unique and diversified business lines," Scott Alter, a co-founder and principal of Standard, said in a statement.
Robert Koerner, the company’s chief investment officer, is leading the acquisition and development business that will focus on redevelopment opportunities.
Chris Cruz, who has been with the company since March 2020, is running the essential housing business, which is focusing on ways to create and preserve affordable and workforce housing without relying on low-income tax credit investors.
By the end of the year, Standard Communities said it expects to acquire controlling interests in more than 5,600 units, bringing its portfolio to nearly 20,000 units across the country.