Public invited to the third and final session of presentations focusing on regional housing issues
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department is hosting the third and final session of their Winter Speakers Series with a special focus on housing. The event is being held on Thursday, April 10 at 6 p.m.at the Park and Planning Montgomery Regional Office Building Auditorium in Silver Spring (8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring MD). The event will feature speakers: John M. Welsh, Vice President of the Multifamily Group of AHC Inc. (a nonprofit developer of affordable housing in the mid-Atlantic region) and David Cristeal, Housing Director of Arlington County.
“We are excited to welcome John Welsh from AHC Inc. and David Cristeal from Arlington County to speak at our final session of our Speakers Series focused on housing,” said Gwen Wright, Montgomery Planning Director. “The presentations have been quite successful at engaging the community and this final event will round out the entire series which focused on the very important issue of exploring housing problems and best practices across the region in order to resolve issues within Montgomery County.”
The sessions are free and open to the public and there will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions. This event is hosted in partnership with APA National Capital Area Chapter.
Third session details:
Montgomery Planning Department Winter Speakers Series
Featuring John M. Welsh, Vice President of the Multifamily Group of AHC Inc. and
David Cristeal, Housing Director, Arlington County
Thursday, April 10, 6 p.m.
Montgomery County Planning Department – Auditorium
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
About the speakers:
John M. Welsh is the Vice President of the Multifamily Group of AHC Inc. He is responsible for all project development and acquisitions of multifamily housing. During his tenure, AHC has acquired more than 3,500 multifamily units in Arlington, Baltimore, and southern Virginia. Welsh supervises a team of project managers responsible for project development. Welsh is a former project manager at Hope Housing in Washington, D.C. (1995-1998) where he identified properties for development, secured financing, coordinated the work of development team members and managed construction. He holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning with a concentration in housing policy from Cornell University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Villanova University. He is also a former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the District of Columbia, and past secretary of the D.C. Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development. Welsh is married, and father of one and is a member of several boards and civic volunteer. AHC provides quality homes for low- and moderate-income families, developing 39 properties with over 5,300 affordable apartments since 1975. AHC also offers services for residents and homeownership opportunities.
David Cristeal has over 25 years of affordable housing, community development and organizing experience. Coming to Arlington after a dozen years in Raleigh, NC, he served as Arlington County’s Housing Development Supervisor since 2004, where he had direct involvement in the preservation and creation of nearly 2,500 affordable housing units. The majority of these units are along or near Arlington’s high-density transportation corridors. He took a leadership role in the County’s planning efforts to preserve or create affordable housing. The most recent effort is the adopted Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Area Plan. The Plan’s primary goal is to preserve all 6,200 of the market rate affordable units over the next 30 years. In June, 2013, David was appointed as the County’s Housing Director, overseeing its Division that is responsible for affordable housing preservation and creation, community development and housing services. David received his Master’s Degree in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH).
The first presentation of the Winter Speakers Series was held on Jan. 30 and featured Lisa Sturtevant, Executive Director for the Center for Housing Policy and Vice President for Research of the National Housing Conference. Ms. Sturtevant presented information on housing trends related to the links between the cost of housing and access to transportation to a full house in the Planning Department’s Auditorium. View the video of Ms. Sturtevant’s presentation.
The second presentation of the series was held on Feb. 27 featuring Mildrilyn Davis and Helen McIlvaine from the City of Alexandria Office of Housing. Ms. Davis and Ms. McIlvaine presented on the City’s innovative housing efforts over the past decade, including redevelopment of numerous blocks of public housing into mixed income communities and co-location of affordable housing with new public buildings. In addition, they presented on the recently approved a new Housing Plan that offers creative ideas for the future. View the second session video presentation.
About the series:
The Planning Department’s 2014 Winter Speakers Series is focusing on housing. It is an opportunity for residents, business owners, planners, elected officials and community leaders to learn more about national and regional trends pertaining to housing issues. Learn more about the series.
Who should attend:
Residents, business owners, planners, elected officials and community leaders