The NRP Group has named Andrew Bailey vice president of development in the Midwest, according to a Sept. 8 press release shared with Multifamily Dive. He brings almost two decades of experience in housing policy, public finance and development.
In his new role, Bailey will help lead the multifamily developer and manager’s affordable, workforce and market-rate housing development efforts in Ohio and elsewhere in the region and support its continued expansion, per the release. He will “advance deal origination, site acquisition and public-private partnerships” for the Cleveland-based firm, guiding projects from early feasibility and capital structuring through closing and construction.
Bailey told Multifamily Dive that the biggest shift he’s seeing with public-private partnerships is that cities are coming with creative strategies, capital and land, rather than just approvals and entitlements.
“Columbus is a great example. The city put a $500 million housing bond in front of voters last November and it passed,” Bailey said in emailed comments. “Beyond that, we have some very creative land banks and public housing authorities throughout Ohio and the broader Midwest that are actively looking for ways to get more housing built.”
There is also a whole category of project partners that aren't public, like churches, hospital systems and universities, according to Bailey.
“Many of them understand the housing need and are sitting on developable land. What they’re often missing is a development partner who has done this successfully and understands how to navigate the complexities of getting a project from an idea to completion,” Bailey said.
Midwest matters
Ohio and the Midwest more broadly are priority growth markets for NRP, which has “strong confidence in the region’s long-term fundamentals,” per the release. NRP has developed more than 68,000 apartments nationwide since its founding in 1994, and currently manages more than 33,000 units across the country.
The biggest development challenge in the Midwest right now is the math, according to Bailey.
“Construction costs in the Midwest have basically caught up to national levels, but rents haven't. In a lot of our submarkets, the rents you'd need to make a new development work are simply higher than what many of the people living there can afford and that's a challenge whether you're talking about affordable or market-rate housing,” Bailey said.
Five years ago, that gap might have been closed with one or two additional funding sources, according to Bailey, but today it can take five or six additional funders, each with its own timeline, requirements and rules.
“Ultimately, the project can only move as quickly as the slowest piece of that capital stack,” Bailey said. “That's made development more complicated and put an even greater premium on having experienced partners who know how to assemble those pieces and keep a project moving.”
Bailey spent nearly a decade in public service with local and state government agencies before moving into private-sector real estate development. Prior to joining NRP, Bailey was vice president of real estate development at Cleveland-headquartered affordable housing developer CHN Housing Partners, where he advanced development initiatives in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Before that, he held executive development roles at for-profit affordable housing companies, leading acquisition, financing and closing for multifamily projects around the U.S. Earlier in his career, Bailey was director of planning, preservation and development for the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, where he oversaw the allocation of Ohio’s LIHTC program and helped shape development policy.
“I'm glad to be at The NRP Group doing this work because, while housing development has always been complicated, it's gotten considerably harder over the last five or six years,” Bailey said. “If you're sitting on land that could help address a housing need in your community, start a conversation with someone who does this for a living.”
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