Nonprofit’s assets, revenue soared under his leadership

Published July 29, 2016 by Joan Tupponce

2016 Virginia CFO Award winner
LARGE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Jeffrey K. Reed
^{Community Housing Partners, Christiansburg}

Janaka Casper, president and CEO of Community Housing Partners, says Jeff Reed’s leadership has been very important to the nonprofit organization’s growth.

“He is very analytical, but he is also very good at the big picture. To me that is a rare skill set,” he said. “He has the unique ability to blend mission and financial stability. He balances them in a very complex regulatory environment.”

The organization’s mission is to create homes and communities that are healthy, sustainable and affordable. It has three main business segments: real estate development, housing services and energy solutions.

Reed, a Christiansburg native, joined Community Housing Partners 16 years ago. In addition to his financial duties, he is in charge of asset management and real estate development.

During Reed’s time with the organization, its assets grew from $80 million in 2000 to $388 million in 2015 while revenue rose from $29 million to $93 million. During the same period, the nonprofit’s rental portfolio has increased from 1,812 units (33 properties) in 2000 to 6,087 units (107 properties).

In 2013, Reed played a key role in the acquisition of a $38 million nonprofit, Florida Low Income Housing Associates, which had 500 multifamily units. The deal resulted in a return on investment of more than 20 percent.

“Their business model wasn’t working through the recession,” Reed says of the Florida organization. “They were struggling and interested in partnering with us. We stepped in and took control of that company. We brought expertise on the property ownership side that they didn’t have.”

Nathan Hockersmith, vice president and commercial lender at Union Bank & Trust in Christiansburg, believes Reed brings unusual attributes to the nonprofit sector. “He is very ‘business/profit’ oriented, which has enabled them to expand their business regionally through organic growth and acquisitions as well as be a preferred development partner,” he says.  

Hockersmith had limited experience with affordable housing programs before he began working with Community Housing Partners. “Jeff took the time to educate me on the intricacies of their model, which varied from my more conventional lending background,” he says.

Reed says obtaining financing for multifamily affordable housing is a bigger challenge than with conventional multifamily housing. Affordable housing requires juggling loans, grants and tax credits, he says.

On the asset management side, he works with a variety of affordable housing communities using project financing from sources such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Reed describes himself as “high energy and goal-oriented. I see a project, and I do what it takes to get it done.”

Casper, the nonprofit’s CEO, says Reed is a leader who inspires people but at the same time is modest and very comfortable working in the background.

“Jeff has not until very recently been a very public leader in our organization,” Casper says. “More recently he has become a coach and a teacher in the community development field. Now he’s in great demand in his peer group. He is always asked to be presenter.”

Reed thinks of himself as an “average person that works hard.”

“Our growth comes by serving more people,” he says. “That is what excites me.”