Taking the “NOT” out of NIMBY: Recognizing, Addressing and Conquering Local Barriers

Over twenty – six years of public and private sector financing experience have provided Deborah Welchel with a broad knowledge of the structure, development and management of a variety of residential housing transactions. Currently as a Senior Development Director for Texas she is responsible for the sourcing, acquisition or preservation of affordable housing utilizing Federal, state, local and private funding sources that include LIHTC and conventional debt in Texas. This includes analyzing markets, determining financial feasibility, assisting with funding applications and lender/investor selections, overseeing construction draw process, and permanent loan conversion.

Her prior experience included her role as Vice President – Asset Manager for Mayfair Management Group, LP and provided general oversight to the management of each assigned property, Director at Edgewater Affordable Housing, where she served in multiple capacities, and Senior Vice President with The Siegel Group where she provided financial services to real estate oriented non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Deborah began her career in affordable housing as Manager of Credit Underwriting at the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. For four years she was responsible for the administration of credit policies and underwriting standards and for determining risk and viability for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, Multifamily Private Activity Bonds, HOME, CDBG, and Housing Trust Fund programs. There she prepared detailed underwriting analyses that included review and verification of operating proformas and development costs as well as appraisal evaluations, market studies, environmental assessments, and engineering reports.

Dr. Clare Losey is an assistant research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center. Her research broadly focuses on developing econometric and statistical models for Texas housing markets, with an emphasis on modeling housing affordability. She conducts research and analysis for special case studies on housing affordability for cities, communities, and nonprofit organizations across Texas. Dr. Losey joined the Center as a student worker in 2016. She was previously employed by Texas A&M University as a teaching assistant, project assistant, and research assistant. She brings to the Center a broad range of experience in estimating the housing needs of different cities and communities across the state.

Jason Arechiga joined The NRP Group in 2012 as a Land Acquisition Specialist and now serves as Senior Vice President of Development.

He is responsible for the company’s affordable housing portfolio throughout Texas as well as mixed-income properties in San Antonio and South Texas. His primary duties include sourcing and entitling new projects, comprising everything from land acquisition to the start of construction. He is also in charge of building and fostering relationships with housing authorities and government agencies. In addition, he is responsible for the preliminary underwriting of all development deals.

Prior to joining NRP, Arechiga was the co-owner and manager of Hillstar Investments, a single-family residential development firm in South and Central Texas for more than a decade. He also served as an adjunct professor at Alamo Colleges teaching both Texas and U.S. history courses. Arechiga holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in military history from Norwich University.

David Noguera is a housing and community development professional with 21 years’ experience developing housing policy, administering programs, assessing and troubleshooting program implementation issues and advising government officials and representatives on housing.

As Director of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization for the City of Dallas, David developed a pipeline of more than 14,000 units of mixed-income housing, deployed a racial equity lens for neighborhood revitalization and generated new revenue streams to support the City’s housing production goals. Prior to Dallas, David oversaw the development of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and managed it at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington D.C. for six years. He later developed an audit resolution division for HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development, where he negotiated settlements on Office of Inspector General audits of states, local governments and nonprofits. Along his career, David analyzed housing policy for Freddie Mac, evaluated federally funded programs for the U.S. Government Accountability Office and nonprofit investments for the New York Empowerment Zone. David is married to Lisa Noguera and together they have two children, Kaiya and Reece.