Michaels Names EVP
Jonathan Lubonski has been elevated to executive vice president, affordable development, at The Michaels Organization, a leading affordable and multifamily housing developer and owner.
In this new role, Lubonski joins the firm’s senior leadership team and has primary oversight for affordable development.
Since joining Michaels in 2013, Lubonski has led the creation of new affordable housing developments throughout New Jersey, and has continually taken on more responsibility, first as regional vice president and later as managing vice president. Most recently, he served as senior vice president, a role in which he spearheaded the implementation of new technologies and established policies and procedures that drive operational efficiencies for Michaels’ development teams and the organization as a whole.
Dominium Announces Promotion
David D’Amelio has been elevated to developer at Dominium, a prominent national affordable housing company. In his new role, he will oversee new project development, acquisitions, and financing.
D’Amelio joined Dominium in 2020 as a development analyst and has progressed through a series of roles over the past six years in which he took on greater responsibilities while delivering outstanding results. Last year, he played an instrumental role in helping the company expand into the state of Oklahoma through his work on The Scott, a new-construction project in Oklahoma City that will provide 184 affordable apartment homes.
Before joining Dominium, he interned with a multifamily real estate developer in Seattle.
NewPoint Adds to Team
NewPoint Real Estate Capital, a national commercial real estate finance company, has announced three senior hires as part of a major internal expansion.
Tyler Paul, who previously led multifamily underwriting at Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, has been named chief credit officer. He will report to president of agency lending Geri Borger Urgo;
Marshall Bass, who previously owned his own consulting firm, is now a managing director for health care bridge-loan underwriting. He will report to president of health care and Federal Housing Administration lending Erik Lindenaeur; and
Daniel Trejo, formerly of Basis Investment Group, has joined as senior asset manager reporting to managing director Dave Sondesky.
Combined, the hires reflect NewPoint's continued and anticipated growth in the residential lending sector, with particular specialties in affordable housing, senior housing, and skilled nursing and health care.
Quadel Appoints Managing Director
Cliff Kornegay has been named managing director at Quadel, a leading affordable housing consulting, training, and program management firm.
In his new role, he will help housing authorities and property management companies apply the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) NSPIRE inspection standards in their day-to-day operations. Kornegay will also provide in-person training, on-demand webinars, consulting, and technical assistance focused on compliance, inspection readiness, and housing quality.
Kornegay joins Quadel from HUD, where he led the NSPIRE program at the Real Estate Assessment Center. His work overseeing inspection standards, quality assurance, and certification earned him the 2024 HUD Secretary’s Award for Innovation.
Maryland DHCD Makes Key Moves
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has announced several key personnel moves.
Assistant secretary Carol Gilbert, who leads the Division of Neighborhood Revitalization, will retire this spring.
She has served as assistant secretary since April 2007. The division’s loan, grant, and technical assistance programs help local governments, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses reinvest in their communities.
Gilbert has guided many changes during her tenure at DHCD, including the expansion of reinvestment grantmaking from approximately $30 million annually to $120 million. Additionally, she advocated for the transfer of the homeless solutions team from the Maryland Department of Human Resources to DHCD. That move, along with consolidating state homeless programs within the department and expanding staffing, became the foundation for the department’s Division of Homeless Solutions, which was established in 2024.
Kari Snyder, director of community and economic development partnerships at the department, has been tapped as Gilbert’s successor. Snyder joined DHCD in 2023 after 16 years of work in Baltimore’s nonprofit sector, including Healthy Neighborhood and Southeast Community Development Corp., where she served as executive director. During her career, Snyder managed programs related to eviction prevention, community schools, placemaking, real estate development, and commercial development and has raised millions of dollars for community development projects.
Haley Lemieux has been promoted to chief of staff. She joined DHCD in 2023 as the inaugural director of the Office of Policy Development. Prior to joining the department, Lemieux served in a variety of roles focused on place-based community development.
Lemieux succeeds Rosa Cruz, who is leaving the agency to pursue other leadership opportunities.
Steven A. Palmer has been named the state’s housing ombudsman, filling a new position established by Gov. Wes Moore’s Housing Starts Here executive order.
As Maryland’s inaugural housing ombudsman, Palmer will help increase Maryland’s housing production by improving processes and cooperation between government, industry partners, and community stakeholders. These efforts will include troubleshooting ongoing housing development projects that have been delayed by state and local permitting or entitlement processes and facilitating housing development on high-potential sites such as government-owned land.
An attorney focused on public service and policy, Palmer joins the department after serving as director of public policy at Housing&, a nonprofit association serving Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.