Latest News March 2024

3/15/2024

Good News on Gale School

We are excited to announce that Evernorth Rural Ventures has made a reservation of New Markets Tax Credits for the Gale School project, which will provide much-needed equity to round out the financing package in combination with federal Historic Tax Credits. In the coming weeks, we hope to enter into an agreement with a single investor to use both types of tax credits.

In the meantime, we have $76,500 in NH business tax credits left to sell by March 31st! If your business would like to support this project, please contact Carmen Lorentz at 603-524-0747 x110 or [email protected].

Kara LaSalle Returns as RED Director

LRCD is very pleased to welcome Kara LaSalle back to the organization as our new Real Estate Development Director. In this role, Kara leads LRCD development activities, overseeing projects from site selection through approvals, financing, and construction to successful completion and turnover to asset management.

For the past four years, Kara served as a Senior Community Investments Officer at Evernorth, where she analyzed tax credit opportunities for affordable housing and community development projects and provided real estate development capacity and technical assistance to a range of clients.

Kara previously worked at LRCD for six years in various roles, including as Real Estate Development Project Manager from 2017-2019.

We are also excited to welcome our new office mascot, Crush (Kara’s adorable Boston Terrier).

Sal Steven-Hubbard is Senior Real Estate Developer

Sal Steven-Hubbard is preparing to transition to a part-time role starting in September, after 12 years in the full-time RED Director role. Under Sal’s leadership, LRCD has grown its real estate portfolio by adding:

164 affordable rental apartments
An eight-bed group home for women in recovery
LRCD’s “new” office at 193 Court St, Laconia

As a result of Sal’s work in recent years, we will add another 45 affordable rental apartments and hopefully complete renovations of the historic Gale School in Belmont by the end of 2025.

Sal’s new title is Senior Real Estate Developer.

Caitlin Meaney Promoted to Asset Management Director

Congratulations to Caitlin Meaney on her promotion to Asset Management Director and on the achievement of her CHAM designation (Certified Housing Asset Manager) from the Consortium for Housing & Asset Management. CHAM is an advanced-level designation that teaches the skills needed to manage the long-term success of affordable housing properties and portfolios.

Caitlin has been a valued team member at LRCD since 2014. She served as Resource Development Director for eight years before transitioning into asset management as part of LRCD’s plan to enhance our capacity to manage our growing real estate portfolio.

This is the first time we have had a full-time position dedicated to asset management. It is well-timed, as we expect to add another 121 units to our portfolio over the next few years.

Legislative Update

There have been more than 50 bills related to housing introduced in this session of the NH Legislature - the busiest session ever for housing advocates! Check out Housing Action NH's website for an overview of key bills that the coalition is following this year.