AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Opens Los Angeles Office To Drive Expanded Investment Activity In Southern California

HIT's Chief Operating Officer Ted Chandler Heads the New Office

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) announced today that Ted Chandler, Executive Vice President/Western Region and Chief Operating Officer, will head a new Southern California office of the $4.5 billion investment company.

Mr. Chandler has 13 years of experience in the Southern California mortgage banking and affordable housing markets. He will lead a targeted effort to serve HIT's pension plan investors in Southern California, while expanding the financing of union-built affordable housing projects in the area.

"We want to repeat in Los Angeles the success we've had in New York, San Francisco, and Boston after opening regional HIT offices in those locations," said HIT CEO Stephen F. Coyle. "Our initiatives in those cities led to significant new investments that are creating union construction jobs and increasing the supply of affordable housing.  The experience Ted has gained in all aspects of the HIT since he joined us three years ago, together with his Southern California roots, make him the right person at the right time for this important task."  

The HIT's newly opened office is located in Pasadena at 155 North Lake Avenue, Suite 800; (818) 291-6254.

Los Angeles, with approximately 1.1 million union workers, has become the nation's second largest union market, with union membership estimated to have grown by more than 20% in the past 15 years. In the construction industry, union growth has been even more dramatic, up by an estimated 40% in 15 years.  

This union strength creates more potential HIT investors and broadens the HIT's opportunities to source investments in union-built affordable housing, the sector in which it specializes.  These investments are expected to help the HIT maintain its long record of providing competitive returns to its investors, which include union and public employee pension plans. 

"The HIT offers tangible benefits to union members, their pension plans, and their communities," said Mr. Chandler.  "We carry a responsibility to extend these benefits, and I am excited about the opportunity to do this in Southern California."  In his new capacity, he expects to expand the HIT's relationships with Southern California developers, lenders, public officials, labor organizations, and pension fund managers.

Development projects financed in Southern California should also help the HIT achieve its goal of creating 20,000 union construction jobs to support economic recovery across the country as part of its national Construction Jobs Initiative, which was established in 2009.  The HIT is also actively seeking investments in energy-saving retrofits of aging multifamily housing developments and LEED-designed new construction as part of its Green Jobs Initiative, which Mr. Chandler has led. All projects financed by the HIT are built by 100% union labor.

Before joining the HIT in 2009, Mr. Chandler was Vice President of marketing for Fannie Mae's Western Regional Office in Pasadena, where he was responsible for managing relationships with national mortgage banking customers. Previously at Fannie Mae he served as Vice President of housing and community development for the western United States. He first joined Fannie Mae as Director of the Boston Partnership Office. Earlier, Mr. Chandler was with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, where he served as Chief Executive and Chief of Staff. He was later Deputy Executive Director of the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency in Boston.

Mr. Chandler is Vice Chairman of the National Housing Conference. He is a founder and Director Emeritus of the California Housing Consortium.  He is also a member of the advisory board of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; and the advisory board of Greystone Community Development Enterprise.

Since its inception in 1965, the HIT has invested $457 million statewide in California to finance 81 housing and healthcare projects. These projects represent total development value of $719 million and over 9,100 housing units, nearly half of which are affordable to low- and moderate-income residents.

About the HIT
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) is a fixed-income investment company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It manages $4.5 billion in assets for more than 350 investors, which include union and public employee pension plans. The HIT invests primarily in government and agency insured and guaranteed multifamily mortgage-backed securities.  The HIT is one of the earliest and most successful practitioners of socially responsible, economically targeted investing, with a 45-year track record that demonstrates the added value derived from union-friendly investments.  The investment objective of the HIT is to provide competitive returns for its investors and to promote the collateral objectives of constructing affordable housing and generating employment for union members in the construction trades and related industries.  Since its inception, the HIT has invested $6.5 billion to finance 105,000 units of housing nationwide, generating more than 70,000 union jobs.  More information is available on the HIT's website, www.aflcio-hit.com.

Contact:
Michael K. Frisby
(202) 625-4328

SOURCE AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust