Position Posting: Housing Development Specialist
Land Trust Program, Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland
About Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland provides ongoing programs and services for achieving, preserving, and sustaining the American dream of home ownership. NHS of Greater Cleveland develops caring and respectful relationships with its clients, from pre-purchase credit counseling to final closing assistance; from training on home repairs and reservation to foreclosure prevention.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland is a nonprofit, community development corporation incorporated in July 1975 as one of the charter organizations of NeighborWorks® America, a network of excellence consisting of 235 organizations working in 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities in economic and community development across the nation. You can learn about our impact here: http://www.nhscleveland.org/about-nhs/
About the Land Trust Program
The Land Trust, a program of Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland, develops quality, healthy, and energy efficient homes that provide permanently affordable home ownership and rental opportunities for low and moderate income families.
The Land Trust Program was founded in 2001 as a resident-led nonprofit serving the near west side of Cleveland. Since its merger with NHS of Greater Cleveland in 2011, the Land Trust Program has more than tripled the number of housing units in the program to 26, expanded the number of cities in which we operate, and added rental property development and management to its range of services. Land Trust homes and apartments – developed and in the pipeline – represent more than $2.5 million of reinvestment in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County neighborhoods.
Land Trust homes are renovated or newly constructed with a goal of creating durable energy efficient homes in quality, walkable neighborhoods for purchase by income-qualified and mortgage-ready buyers. NHS of Greater Cleveland ensures homeowner success with access to strong pre-purchase homebuyer education and credit counseling, as well as post-purchase education and support.
Buyers purchase a Land Trust home with a traditional bank mortgage and lease the land on which the house sits. The land lease arrangement is a powerful tool for securing the community’s investment in housing. It preserves public and private subsidy in affordable housing, assuring that the homes developed by the Land Trust continue to provide opportunities for affordable homeownership through successive sales to low or moderate income buyers.
Learn more the Land Trust Program: https://www.nhscleveland.org/buy-a-home/land-trust-program/
About Community Land Trusts
The Land Trust Program of Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland is one of 240 community land trust programs in the United States. Community land trusts are nonprofit, community-based organizations designed to ensure community stewardship of land. Community land trusts can be used for many types of development (including commercial and retail), but are primarily used to ensure long-term housing affordability. To do so, the land trust acquires land and maintains ownership of it permanently. With prospective homeowners, it enters into a long-term, renewable lease instead of a traditional sale. When the homeowner sells, the family earns a portion of the increased property value. The remainder stays in the house, preserving the affordability for future low- to moderate-income families. Learn more about community land trusts: http://cltnetwork.org/tools/
About the position of Housing Development Specialist
The Land Trust Program of NHS of Greater Cleveland is in the process of significantly expanding its housing production and geographic impact. The Land Trust works in a variety of housing markets including areas of historical disinvestment and poor housing conditions, areas returning to stability after the foreclosure crisis, and areas with speculative investment in housing and rapidly rising housing costs. The Housing Development Specialist will play a key role in creating and managing a pipeline of housing projects, from property assessments, to construction management and development of internal systems for efficient oversight of projects with a high level of integrity.
The Housing Development Specialist will be results-driven and able to start quickly into the current acquisition-rehab strategy of the Land Trust Program. The Housing Development Specialist is also responsible for property management of the 13 rental units in the Land Trust Program. The Housing Development
Specialist will report to the Land Trust Program Director, and work collaboratively with the Land Trust Program Manager and the Community Engagement Coordinator to ensure that the Land Trust Program functions as a flexible and effective tool that meets unique housing needs in diverse communities. This position will involve collaboration with staff from all NHS of Greater Cleveland programs.
Responsibilities
Housing Development
- Conduct assessments of vacant houses under consideration for acquisition (Bank-owned and county land bank). Develop cost estimates and specifications for a subset of
- Oversee pre-development assessments, including architectural, lead risk assessments, asbestos, structural evaluations
- Develop proformas for construction, based on target pricing and target markets
- Acquire homes for renovation and sale as Land Trust houses
- Manage bid process using Housing Developer Pro
- Pilot in-house general contracting role for NHS of Greater Cleveland
- Manage construction contracts, including budget-to-actual and contractor payments
- Manage construction of rehab properties, including draw inspections and process, in compliance with funding requirements. Coordinate with Program Manager for budget
- Coordinate construction process and timeline with sales team
- Participate in other property assessment according to program needs
Construction Systems
- Lead staff to develop model specifications for acquisition/rehab, according to target pricing of acquisition/rehab project
- Maintain spec library with updated specifications and cost estimates
- Develop inspection and assessment process for consistent decision-making process for accepting or rejecting potential acquisitions
- Develop rehab manual including construction and quality standards
- Evaluate and revise contractor qualification, recruitment and evaluation system
- Maintain updated contractor lists, including certifications (OEO, WMOB, 3, etc.)
- Develop construction procedures, policy, documentation towards greater efficiency
Property Management
- Develop property maintenance schedules for rental properties, including seasonal, make-ready, and renovation schedules
- Conduct scheduled maintenance on properties and respond to tenant issues
- Monitor properties onsite regularly for tenant compliance of lease issues, repair and capital needs
- Coordinate with Program Manager and Community Engagement Coordinator for tenant move-ins
- Conduct inspections at tenant move-outs according to inspection sheet
- Participate in property maintenance as needed, including bidding and contracting of outside contractors for repairs and regular maintenance
Minimum Qualifications
Successful candidates will demonstrate skills and abilities that will allow the candidate to excel in the position of Housing Development Specialist. NHS of Greater Cleveland recognizes the power of diversity in our programming and workforce, and encourages applications from individuals with varied experiences, perspectives and backgrounds. Paid employment in the nonprofit field is not a prerequisite for this position.
- 3+ years of construction and/or housing project management experience, preferably single family housing. Demonstrated capacity to manage a construction project to completion on time and on budget.
- Ability to acquire Lead Certified Renovator License
- Demonstrated ability to monitor project budgets and
- Ability to coordinate multiple projects simultaneously and set and meet deadlines
- Excellent organizational, analytical and time management
- Ability to interact effectively and confidently with individuals at all social and economic levels that access the agency’s services, other members of the community, and
- Demonstrated experience communicating with, and facilitating cooperation among, people and organizations with diverse interests
- Existing skills in, or ability to quickly learn advanced functions of, most recent versions of Microsoft Office applications
- Flexible and adaptive in a changing
- Willingness to work occasional evenings, maintain a flexible schedule and travel locally, with some out- of-town travel for
- Driver’s license and insured
- This position requires occasional evening and weekend work. NHS of Greater Cleveland is proactively complying with the requirements of the Final Rule update to the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a nonexempt position, the Housing Development Specialist will not work over 40 hours per week, and evening and weekend work will be scheduled to be part of a 40-hour work week. NHS of Greater Cleveland is committed to supporting the work-life balance of its
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in developing cost estimates, feasibility analyses, and proformas
- Knowledge of Healthy Home and Indoor Air Quality considerations as they relate to design of specifications and cost estimates towards renovation of single family homes
- Lead Certified Renovator License, and knowledge of current lead safety regulations
- Training and certification related to energy efficiency, green building, and sustainable sites
- Training and certification in building science principals; Building Performance Institute’s Building Analyst Professional Certification strongly preferred
- Working knowledge of Housing Developer Pro
Salary and Benefits
- NHS of Greater Cleveland offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Send cover letter and resume to:
Marge Misak, Land Trust Program Director NHS of Greater Cleveland
5700 Broadway Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44127 Or to:
Marge Misak, Land Trust Program Director MMisak@nhscleveland.org