David Walsh
Dave Walsh accepts the 2014 Private Sector Partner of the Year award. Left to right: Brenda Rosen, Dave Walsh, Nicole Branca.
Dave Walsh is a ‘Renaissance man’ in the world of supportive housing – he’s been a nonprofit developer with Common Ground, managed a significant increase in State financing of supportive and affordable housing as the New York State Housing Finance Agency’s (HFA) Senior Vice President of Multifamily Programs, and now oversees all of JPMorgan Chase Bank’s affordable and supportive housing work in the Northeast Region.
“In every position Dave’s held, he’s the guy you go to in order to solve a problem and get things done. He’s always trying to get to yes. His instincts and his knowledge about housing finance are universally respected. He’s someone you can trust and you can depend on his expertise,” says Ted Houghton, Executive Deputy Commissioner at New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), and the Network’s former Executive Director.
Mr. Walsh began his work in supportive housing with Common Ground as their Senior Project Manager, and during the next five years developed some of the most high profile projects in the field: The Christopher, The Lee, The Schermerhorn, and The Brook. Common Ground’s Brenda Rosen says “Dave has a special place in our hearts and we applaud the Network for honoring him.”
After a fruitful tenure at Common Ground, Mr. Walsh was the ideal choice to lead the charge on behalf of HFA to substantially expand the number of supportive housing units financed by the agency. Serving as HCR’s Senior Vice President of Multifamily Programs, he oversaw the structuring and overall financing of over 10,000 units of mixed income, supportive and affordable housing located throughout New York State.
Then, wanting to make an impact on an even larger scale, Mr. Walsh joined JPMorgan Chase -- and chose this bank because, as he described it, of “its long history of helping to facilitate the development of supportive housing nationwide.”
Long history indeed: JPMorgan Chase was an early and consistent investor in New York supportive housing, helping to finance projects that included the Times Square and Prince George. In all, Chase has invested $1.5 billion in New York supportive housing. Since Mr. Walsh joined the company, it has invested more than $120 million in four supportive/affordable housing projects with nearly 400 units: Common Ground/SUS’ Boston Road, Dunn Development/CAMBA’s Putnam Court, CUCS’ Arthur Avenue and the first project to open using MRT capital, the Housing Collaborative/VOA’s Creston Avenue.
“Having a banker who was trained as an architect, and who came out of the supportive housing world is extremely helpful,” says Martin Dunn of Dunn Development.
For his longstanding commitment to supportive housing and his tireless work to provide more and better permanent supportive housing for all New Yorkers in need, David J. Walsh is recipient of the Network’s 2014 Private Sector Partner of the Year Award.