Michael Smith-Heimer has extensive experience in affordable housing finance, acquisitions, and development.  He is expert in Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs), tax exempt multifamily bond finance, HUD programs, and complex P3 transactions.   Michael works on selected projects for The Housing Workshop.

 

Michael was co-owner of the John Stewart Company and served progressively as Development Director and CFO for the Company for over 20 years.  The John Stewart Company, one of the largest for-profit affordable housing development and management companies in the US, operates primarily in California.  With over 30,000 units under management, the firm has also developed numerous projects, including new construction, rehab, and preservation of expiring projects.  During Michael’s tenure, the company developed more than 3,000 affordable units, including rehabilitation of Mercy Family Plaza in San Francisco, financed with LIHTC’s and Historic Tax Credits; renovation and LIHTC financing for senior housing in downtown Vallejo; new construction of a mixed use, mixed income affordable artist live/work project in Ventura CA, rehabilitation and reuse of Treasure Island military housing financed with company equity; renovation and preservation of Monte Alban in San Jose; and new construction of both Bay Street and Hunters View in San Francisco, using combinations of HOPE VI, LIHTC, and other sources. 

 

Michael also served as Director of Special Projects for the Low Income Fund (LIF), a CDFI based in San Francisco.  During his tenure at LIF, Michael developed numerous complex financing mechanisms and assisted other non-profit and community development lenders to organize financing programs.  Early in his career, he served as a Senior Financial Analyst for Bank of America, where he structured corporate loan programs for residential development.  

 

Michael also served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley for over 20 years.  Throughout Michael’s career, he also provided consulting services to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, as well as to multiple lenders and policy groups.

 

Michael holds a Bachelor of Urban Planning from the University of Cincinnati, an MCP and MBA from UC Berkeley, and a PhD in City Planning from UC Berkeley.  He is a past Board Member of the Fort Mason Foundation, a premier arts facility in San Francisco.  He is also an award-winning landscape photographer with installations throughout the Bay Area (see www.mash-production.com ).