Our Mission
Preservation Partners Development (PPD) acquires, rehabilitates and permanently preserves “at-risk” affordable housing resources which were originally developed under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) financing and direct rental subsidy programs. Our objective is to provide long term, secure housing communities, and in partnership with affiliated nonprofit corporations, provide supportive social services focused on the most basic needs of very low income families and seniors.
Subsidized Housing Programs
HUD and state housing finance agencies have subsidized more than 1.7 million rental housing units since the late 1950’s, providing affordable housing for over 4 million residents. Income and rent restrictions on the majority of these housing units will expire between now and 2013, leaving very low income residents exposed to the possibility of conversion of their properties to the unsubsidized market. These rental properties are privately owned and managed. They are not physically distinguishable from “market rate” properties in a given area. Many of these properties were constructed under HUD interest reduction or subsidy programs (such as Section 221(d)3 BMIR and Section 236). They provide low interest rate loans in consideration for reduced rents and household income restrictions. Other programs, such as Section 8, provide rental assistance directly to residents. Households pay 30 % of their adjusted income for their portion of the monthly rent, with the balance of the rent paid to the owner by HUD.
Typical families have one, two or three wage earners, and average 20% to 30% of median household income for a given area. The overwhelming majority of these families cannot afford to pay even the “affordable” rents set at 50% and 60% of median income under the low income housing tax credit program; and other affordable housing resources are extremely limited in major metropolitan areas. Housing subsidies enable families to bring up their children in decent, safe surroundings, and to avoid a degrading dependence on direct forms of welfare and public assistance.
Typical elderly residents are widows or widowers living on $600.00 to $1,100.00 a month in social security income. Housing subsidies allow them to live with dignity in well maintained and comfortable apartment homes, and with age and income appropriate supportive social services.
Who We Are
PPD is a California based development group specializing in the acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) insured and assisted affordable housing developments.
Of all the great challenges facing our society today, the shortage of long-term, quality, secure, and affordable housing alternatives for very low income families and seniors has become one of the most critical, particularly in high cost housing areas. New construction of affordable properties has not kept pace with the steady increase in demand, and existing affordable properties, many of which are now 30 to 40 years old, are in need of rehabilitation. With the ever increasing rise in the value of real estate, more and more profit motivated owners of existing affordable housing resources are converting their properties to market rate rental housing or condominiums upon the expiration of their income and rent restrictions. These trends threaten to make the low income housing crisis even more acute over the coming years.
PPD provides the opportunity to rehabilitate and permanently preserve existing affordable housing assets by offering owners the opportunity to realize “market values” upon sale. Since our formation in 1999, we have utilized low income housing tax credits and tax exempt bond financings to acquire and rehabilitate 21 properties representing 2,656 rental units in Washington, Virginia and throughout California. In addition, we are currently under contract to acquire five additional communities in California that will increase our total number of apartment homes to over 3,100.
Collectively, the members of PPD have over 150 years of development, finance and management experience, as former employees of HUD and large private sector real estate finance, asset management, banking and accounting companies. The principal members of PPD and its affiliated entities are William Szymczak, Teresa Szymczak, Nidia Vasquez, Jon LaLanne, James Suekama & Paul Fujii.
- William Szymczak held management positions in five HUD offices over a period of 15 years, including Director of Housing Development in the San Francisco Office, and has over 15 years of experience directing all underwriting and mortgage credit activities for TRI Capital Corporation’s federal agency loan programs. He has directed the activities of PPD since inception.
- Nidia Vasquez, with over 25 years of experience in the property management industry, is the Director of Asset Management for PPD, and Chief Executive Officer of Preservation Partners Management Group (PPMG), our affiliated property management company.
- Jon LaLanne has specialized in real estate development consulting, with an emphasis in real estate partnership audit and taxation services. He has specialized in structuring syndications of low income housing tax credits, and has also specialized in tax compliance. Jon was licensed as a CPA in California, and is the Chief Financial Officer of PPD.
- Christian Szymczak joined Preservation Partners Management Group as Director of the accounting department. Soon thereafter he joined the Preservation Partners Development and as a member of the team he assist in the acquisition and and financing of new Tax Credit and Section 8 properties, and in securing new financing for existing Preservation Partnes projects to ensure their continued viability.
Our Existing Communities
| Name Location | Units | Bond Allocation | Lender/Enhancer | Tax Credits |
| Springdale West Long Beach, CA | 410 | $17,550,000 | TRI/HUD | $6,878,100 |
| Plum Tree Gilroy, CA | 70 | $5,650,000 | CalHFA | $2,047,500 |
| Rowland Heights Rowland Hts, CA | 144 | $8,790,000 | WAMU/FHLB | $3,327,700 |
| Royal Hills Renton, WA | 284 | (9% Tax Credits) | WAMU | $6,000,000 |
| Hope Village Glen Allen, VA | 100 | $4,500,000 | B of A/FNMA | $1,450,000 |
| Trailside Everett, WA | 250 | $10,620,000 | US Bank | $5,461,600 |
| Birchcrest Downey, CA | 64 | $2,455,000 | US Bank | $1,257,400 |
| La Puente Park La Puente, CA | 132 | $6,776,000 | US Bank | $3,816,000 |
| Lake Merritt Oakland, CA | 55 | $3,702,000 | US Bank | $1,772,000 |
| Cienega Gardens Covina, CA | 180 | $11,760,000 | WAMU/FHLB | $4,548,000 |
| Seminole Palm Springs, CA | 60 | $3,385,000 | WAMU/FHLB | $939,000 |
| Corona Park Corona, CA | 160 | $10,250,000 | WAMU | $5,110,733 |
| Sky Parkway Sacramento, CA | 59 | $1,965,000 | WAMU | $996,373 |
| Citrus Grove Fontana, CA | 51 | $3,790,000 | CalHFA | $2,651,496 |
| Royals I & II Los Angeles, CA | 115 | (9% Tax Credits) | WAMU | $8,200,000 |
| Second Avenue Los Angeles, CA | 20 | (9% Tax Credits) | US Bank | $2,400,000 |
| St Andrews Los Angeles, CA | 43 | (9% Tax Credits) | US Bank | $5,300,000 |
| Panorama View Van Nuys, CA | 87 | (9% Tax Credits) | US Bank | $8,850,000 |
| Belage Manor Anaheim CA | 180 | $22,350,000 | Union Bank | $10,350,000 |
| Two Worlds Los Angeles, CA | 96 | (9% Tax Credits) | Wachovia | $13,900,000 |
| Columbus Square Los Angeles, CA | 64 | $6,250,000 | Union Bank | $3,770,600 |
| Total | 2624 | $99,826,502 |
Improving the Quality of Life of Our Residents
We strongly believe in providing our residents with well maintained apartment homes in a secure and supportive environment. All of the following are essential to realizing this objective:
- Large scale rehabilitation that dramatically upgrades the condition and quality of our living units and common areas
- Partnership with affiliated nonprofit organizations to provide ongoing, age and need specific social service programs to enhance the lives of our residents
- Professional, responsive and concerned property management to maintain properties on an ongoing basis
The rehabilitation of Trailside Apartments in Everett, Washington is an example of the range of improvements we have been able to provide our residents. Our scope of work included the replacement of all windows with attractive, energy efficient units, the replacement of flat roofs with new pitched roofs, new exterior siding and painting of all building exteriors. Interior remodeling included the replacement of all the kitchen countertops, new appliances, bathroom cabinets, new flooring, and new plumbing and electrical fixtures.
We constructed a new community facility at Trailside that has been leased at no cost to Everett Community College for operation of the local Head Start program. The College provides the program for both residents and non-residents. In a separate community room on the property, the Boys and Girls Club of Everett operates an after school computer learning program. In addition, Preservation Properties Management Group (PPMG), our affiliated property management company, provides a 10 week summer program for children from the ages of 5-12 that offers an array of athletic, artistic and creative programs.
Our partner in many communities, Jamboree Housing Corporation, through its social service affiliate Housing With Heart, provides on-site staff to conduct after school and summer programs at each of the family properties in which they are a partner. These include Rowland Heights, Tennyson, La Puente, Seminole, Cienega Gardens, Corona Park and Citrus Grove. Our partnership with Jamboree at Plum Tree Apartments, an elderly community in Gilroy, California, is another example of how we have been able to provide extensive social services programs, in this case, to improve the quality of life of our senior residents. Housing With Heart provides and coordinates community activities and access to local assistance services, while PPD’s own affiliated nonprofit social service provider, Cornucopia Services, has arranged for regular deliveries of surplus food to Plum Tree residents from local contributing organizations.
Cornucopia Services
PPD provides some form of social services at every community, through either one of our own affiliates, such as PPMG or Cornucopia Services, or through an affiliate of a nonprofit partner. Organized in 2004 and directed by Terry Szymczak, Cornucopia Services is a nonprofit public benefit corporation. Cornucopia is dedicated to providing for the most pressing needs of our residents, the vast majority of which have very low incomes; these families and elderly individuals are all too often unable to provide for necessities as basic as food from month to month.
Cornucopia initiates and administers these services at no cost, focusing on establishing ongoing food service programs with deliveries directly to each community. These include regular deliveries from “surplus” food banks, food donations from local business establishments, such as supermarkets and bakeries, and the Meals-on-Wheels program. Cornucopia also focuses on other forms of direct financial assistance to residents, such as obtaining very low income utility discounts.
Preservation Partners Management Group Inc.
We have previously contracted with recognized, professional property management firms at all of our properties. In many cases, these property managers were at the properties before our acquisition, and as a result, bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the continued sound management and maintenance of the properties. Whenever possible, in order to provide the most direct control and supervision of property operations, management responsibilities are transferred to our affiliated property management company, Preservation Partners Management Group Inc.(PPMG). Chief Executive Officer Nidia Vasquez, Director of Property Management Julia Arisiaga, and Director of Accounting, Christian Szymczak direct the activities of over 75 site employees. PPMG uses the most advanced and sophisticated accounting and property management software available for subsidized affordable housing, and as an affiliated property manager, brings a highly focused attention to operating and maintenance concerns to PPD properties.
Other Strategic Partnerships
Our transactions have been financed by tailoring unique and complex structures that include tax exempt bonds, the sale of low income housing 4% or 9% tax credits, and gap financings from affordable housing loan/equity providers such as state and local governments. The bonds have either been directly purchased by financial institutions, or credit enhanced by government related entities or financial institutions rated by Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s, and sold in the public markets. The low income housing tax credits have been syndicated to investors to provide the funds needed for acquisition and rehabilitation When needed, gap financings have been structured as long term debt or surplus cash notes, and have been provided by various affordable housing equity/loan providers that include cities, counties and state agencies. In order to meet the varying needs of our communities we have formed strategic relationships or partnerships with the following entities:
| Issuers | California Statewide Communities Development Authority (CSCDA), CalHFA, City of Hayward, Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles, Housing Authority of the City of Sacramento, the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission and the Housing Authority of the City of Anaheim. |
| Bond Underwriters | D.A Davidson, BancAmerica Securities, Miller & Schroeder. |
| Credit Enhancers | HUD, CalHFA, Comerica Bank, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank, US Bank, Washington Mutual Bank; Union Bank. |
| Tax Credit Investors | Edison Capital, Merritt Community Capital Corporation, MMA Financial, Paramount Group, The Richman Group, US Affordable Housing; Us Bank CDA, Union Bank of California. |
| Affordable Housing Equity Providers | Century Housing Corporation, City of Covina, City of Fontana, City of Oakland, City of Hayward, County of Sacramento, State of Washington; City of Los Angeles |
| Social Service Providers | Cornucopia Services, Housing With Heart |
| General Contractor | ICON Builders |
| Property Managers | PPMG, Goldrich & Kest, John Stewart Co., TOPA. |
| Tax Credit Counsel | Carle, Mackie, Power & Ross |
| HUD Counsel | Levy, Levy & Levy |
| Accountant/Auditor | Dauby O’Connor & Zaleski LLC |
ICON Builders
PPD has worked exclusively with ICON Builders, a general contractor with over 20 years of experience in California. Icon specializes in the construction and renovation of multi-family apartment properties and provides 100% performance and payment bonds, if required by lenders.. Icon has successfully completed the scope of work on every property we have acquired – on schedule and within budget. Icon believes in a “hands-on” approach, and as such is involved early in the process as part of the development team from a project’s inception to its completion. They work closely with residents to minimize the time and inconvenience of temporary relocation required during rehabilitation. They also sponsor programs such as “Kids at Risk Mentoring Program” and make donations to enhance the lives of residents at their properties. Icon won the “Affordable Housing Project of the Year” award given by the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing for its work on the Hollywood El Centro project.
Where We Are Going
During this critical period, with existing affordable housing income and rent use restrictions expiring on hundreds of properties every year, PPD will continue to focus on the acquisition and preservation of as many of these “at risk” resources as possible, in order to expand our portfolio of long term and secure housing communities, and to continue to provide for the most basic needs of very low income residents. We will continue to specialize in the acquisition of HUD and Cal HFA insured and assisted multi-family housing developments, and when necessary, pursue selected new construction opportunities to replace existing affordable housing communities.
Biographies
William E. Szymczak
Bill is a founding Managing Partner of Preservation Partners Development. Prior to starting PPD, Bill was Executive Vice President and Chief Underwriter for TRI Capital Corporation. He was responsible for directing all underwriting and mortgage credit activities for TRI’s federal and agency loan programs. He was previously affiliated with First Interstate Mortgage Company as Vice President and Chief Underwriter. Prior to that, he worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for 15 years in varying capacities, including Regional Director of Housing Development and Housing Management in San Francisco and Cincinnati.
Bill received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts Degrees from Loyola University of Chicago, where he was a teaching fellow. Actively involved in affordable housing development and preservation for over 35 years, He is a past member of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (Pacific Southwest Region), and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Responsible Housing Preservation.
Since 1999, Preservation Partners has acquired, rehabilitated and preserved over 30 Section 8 projects with over 3,000 units and approximately 10,000 very low income residents.
Nidia Vasquez
Nidia is the Director of Asset Management for Preservation Partners Development. She has over 25 years of experience in the property management industry and joined Preservation Partners Development as Director of Asset Management in 2003. Nidia’s career started in the conventional market, where she eventually was responsible for the management and operation of a 1200 unit residential and commercial portfolio located in Southern California and Arizona. In 1996, Nidia moved into the Affordable Housing Industry at Levine Management Group, a successful Property Management company based in Beverly Hills, where she acquired extensive knowledge regarding government programs regulations, including HUD-Subsidized and Tax Credit housing, serving as Director of Compliance and Marketing. Subsequently, Nidia worked for five years as District Manager and Regional Director of the Los Angeles offices of The John Stewart Company, rated the third largest property management company in California, specializing in Low Income Housing Programs.
Nidia has a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University at Dominguez Hills and has been a California Real Estate Salesperson License since 1983. Nidia is also a Certified Assisted Housing Manager, a National Compliance Professional (NCP-Executive), and a HCCP candidate.
Jon LaLanne
Jon is the Chief Financial Officer of Preservation Partners Development. As CFO, he is responsible for cash management and accounting of PPD’s development entities and he also works with management companies to insure proper accounting at the properties. Jon also works closely with PPD’s investors and lenders and coordinates with outside auditors.
Prior to his current position he was employed by Novogradac & Company LLP, CPA’s, in its San Francisco and Ohio offices where Jon worked in many areas of real estate. He specialized in real estate developer consulting and taxation with an emphasis in low-income housing tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit and the New Markets tax credit. In his last year he was instrumental in helping his clients receive over $170 million in federal tax credit allocations. Jon received a B.S. in Accounting from Brigham Young University and was licensed as a CPA in California.
Christian Szymczak
Christian Szymczak joined Preservation Partners Management Group at its inception in August of 2006. Until 2009, Christian was the Accounting Manager for PPMG, where he oversaw bookkeeping and production of financial information for the 20 properties PPMG had under contract. From mid 2009 to present, Christian has been assisting Preservation Partners Development in their task of acquiring and financing existing project based section 8 properties in the Los Angeles area. This entails assembling tax credit applications, and assisting MAP lenders to assemble firm commitment applications for FHA financing.
Terry Szymczak
Terry Szymczak is the founder and current director of Cornucopia Services Inc., a nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation providing social services to Preservation Partners Development properties. After receiving her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Chicago, Terry became a high school English teacher, and after receipt of an additional graduate degree in Biology, taught science courses in San Lorenzo High School in California. From 1998 to 2003, Terry served as an unpaid volunteer in the management of the Alameda County Food Bank, which collected and distributed surplus food throughout Alameda County. She founded Cornucopia Services in 2004.
Terry graduated from Edgecliff College in Cincinnati and earned her English Master’s Degree from Loyola University of Chicago, where she was a teaching fellow. She received her Master’s Degree in Biology from Cal State Hayward. In addition to being director of Cornucopia, Terry has served on the Board of Community’s Child, and as a volunteer in management of Harbor Interfaith’s food service.
Paul Fujii
Paul Fujii is a Project Construction Manager of Preservation Partners Development. Paul is a licensed California architect and worked with PNC Multifamily in San Francisco, California from 1992 until 2006 in project analysis, inspection and special evaluation. He began his career as an intern in the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Intern Program in 1971. After completion of the program, he was assigned to the architectural branch in the San Francisco HUD Area Office, where he worked for nine years starting with architectural review and then supervisor for the HUD inspectors for the HUD projects under construction in California and Nevada.
He joined the private sector after leaving HUD. He received his architectural license in 1982. He first joined the architectural firm of Kurtzman and Kodama in San Francisco where he worked for four years focusing on affordable multifamily housing. He then joined the firm of Bull, Stockwell and Allen, also in San Francisco, where he worked for seven years focusing on commercial, naval, municipal, hotel resort and church projects. At both firms his primary responsibility was managing construction administration and providing support in the production of construction documents. He has extensive construction administration experience in affordable and multifamily housing throughout California.
Paul graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from University of California at Berkeley.
Jim Suekama
Jim Suekama is a Project Construction Manager of Preservation Partners Development. For the past 32 years Jim has been involved with multifamily housing development, inspection, construction, cost analysis, and architectural review. For 15 years Jim worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, San Francisco Area Office, as Chief of the Multifamily Architecture and Cost Section; 3 years with First Interstate Mortgage Company as Construction Department Manager; and 15 years with PNC Multifamily as Chief Architect.
With Preservation Partners, Jim’s primary role is to do initial walk-though inspections with the contractor, development of the scope of work, coordination of consultant reviews, and maintenance of cost controls during the course of construction. In addition Jim assists with asset management by reviewing proposals for capital needs improvements.
Jim graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College, New York and a Master of Architecture degree from University of California at Berkeley.