Vice President of Development, Affordable Housing
Description
We are a real estate investment company that achieves exceptional results through people, deep research, analytics, technology and strong relationships.
Venterra Realty is a growing developer, owner, and operator of multifamily apartments with 90 mixed-use and multifamily communities across 22 major US cities. Over 50,000 people and more than 16,000 pets call Venterra "home"! The Venterra Team is focused on achieving excellence in serving its three major stakeholders: residents, employees, and investors. Venterra has enjoyed tremendous growth and financial success over its 24-year history, with approximately $5.6 billion of assets under management. This success has been achieved through the exceptional commitment and dedication of Venterra's approximately 950 team members and a rigorous discipline for making great investments. Find out more about Venterra Realty and its award-winning company culture at Venterra.com.
Venterra’s mission is to acquire, develop, and manage multi-family real estate assets that deliver superior cash flow and long-term appreciation for their investors while preserving capital.
Venterra’s commitment is to improve the lives of their residents by delivering an industry-leading customer experience. They are also committed to providing an employee experience that enables their people to flourish professionally and personally. Venterra has grown into a company that is paving a new way in the industry, where employees can make a difference, career growth is available, and where renters are provided an excellent living experience. This is essentially the Venterra Brand. It’s how they see themselves, and how others see them.
Venterra’s Core Values:
- Honesty and Integrity
- Humility
- Never-ending Pursuit of Excellence
- Candor and Openness
- Unparalleled Service Excellence
- Team First
- Prudent Cost Management
We’re thrilled to be recognized as a leading workplace with numerous prestigious awards year after year! In 2025 alone, we were recognized for the following:
- 2025 Best Workplaces in Real Estate™
- 2025 Best Medium Workplaces™
- 2025 Best Workplaces™ for Professional Development.
- 2025 Best Workplaces™ for Inclusion
- Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas™ List
- 2025 Best Workplaces™ in Real Estate and Construction
- 2025 Best Workplaces™ for Mental Wellness
- Best Workplaces™ with Most Trusted Executive Teams
- 2025 Best Workplaces™ for Young Talent
Explore our communities at VenterraLiving.com, and visit Venterra.com to learn more about how we’re out-caring the competition by staying true to our value proposition: “We care more about renter experiences, which drives superior results.”
Venterra Growth
Investors have enjoyed some of the best risk adjusted returns available in the investment universe, not just the real estate sector. Average annual returns have been 18%+ over a 20-year period, earned using low leverage. Financial/operating performance of the firm’s investments has exceeded the average performance of the top U.S. public REITs by almost 50% over the past 12 years. Significant capital is available to fund further growth with a long waiting list of prospective investors.
Residents at Venterra properties rate their living experience in the top 5% nationally of all apartment communities. Last year, GlassDoor.com rated Venterra one of the 50 best places to work in America (out of 600,000+ firms) and FORTUNE Magazine (top 100) rated Venterra as one of the best workplaces in the U.S. for companies with fewer than 1000 employees.
Venterra’s plans for growth are ambitious and diversified, while retaining their Real Estate focus. They foresee significant growth in their core market rate product through geographic expansion into several, already qualified U.S. cities. Within the coming year, Venterra will have at least 5 active development projects with plans to continue to grow their pipeline with expansion outside of TX. The company already owns its own in-house GC that services its large existing portfolio and is in the process of expanding this capacity to take on ground-up development.
Most recently, Venterra made the strategic decision to enter the LIHTC Affordable Housing Development sector to complement their ongoing traditional market rate development efforts.
Venterra Technology
Technology is in the DNA of its founders and they are the leaders of Venterra today. The Chair holds a Master’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence. Earlier in their careers, the Chair and the CEO jointly led the growth and sale of a highly successful software technology business that focused on transportation logistics optimization. They then applied their business and technology acumen to the real estate industry, creating Venterra. This technology background has resulted in Venterra being one of the few companies in the industry with their own in-house, leading proprietary technology and data science systems. The 50-person Technology Group allows Venterra to control their technology destiny, which is increasingly important to compete at the highest levels.
Technology empowers Venterra’s Operations team to be a leader and innovator of customer experience. Venterra has significantly outperformed the overall U.S. multi-family industry during the COVID-19 Crisis, using technology extensively to move to a near touchless interface with residents during the crisis.
When it comes to Development, Venterra builds its assets for long-term holds and is committed to being an innovator. This includes exploring new construction means and methods and seeking ways to improve the living experience, such as smart unit design, customer facing technology amenities, better sound proofing, leveraging IOT technologies and lower maintenance design elements. Throughout the organization, Venterra’s commitment to and expertise surrounding technology drives an innovative spirit that ensures we achieve above market investment returns.
Opportunity
The Head of Development, Affordable Housing (the “Vice President”) will be joining a company with an excellent track record of profitable growth and innovation, with a determination to continued expansion and diversification. The company has made a long-term strategic decision to make affordable housing a key element of its platform. This is an opportunity to lead a new Division within a very successful Houston based real estate company.
Venterra is now seeking an experienced Affordable Housing executive to leverage the strength of their operating experience, deep investor base and well-established name in the Real Estate investment community, to successfully launch their entry into the affordable housing development sector.
Venterra is committed to pursuing a differentiated Affordable Housing model that will have an outsized social impact through education and wellness programs that improve the lives of residents while also producing strong operating results. The Vice President will help shape and refine this strategy and bring it to life including determining which Affordable Housing Development models(4%, 9%, Hybrid) to pursue, the locational focus first within our Texas markets, and the necessary resourcing requirements to grow this new business. This role calls for both a strategist and someone who thrives on translating strategy into results.
Strong leadership skills, an ingrained intellectual curiosity, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a passion for building something new, will characterize the Vice President.
Venterra is an organization that places high value on creative thinking and innovation. For an experienced Affordable Housing Development executive, this is the opportunity to start a new business Division within Venterra and make a difference through the communities that are created.
Key Accountabilities
The leader of Affordable Housing Development will lead the charge of expanding Venterra’s existing development platform into the Affordable Housing development space. The focus will initially be on Texas markets but is intended to expand within Venterra’s footprint outside of Texas.
The first deliverable will be to work with senior leaders and company founders to shape an existing strategy to enter the Affordable Housing development space. The Vice President will continue to guide and alter Venterra’s Affordable Housing strategy in response to changing market conditions.
As a new entrant into the Affordable Housing Development sector, the role will be the flag bearer in establishing Venterra’s brand within the industry. Working with brokers, tax syndicators, community housing groups, local politicians and HUD to ensure a successful entrance to the market and position Venterra for long term success.
The role is responsible for the identification and evaluation of sites, IC level presentations, securing the capital stack, and overseeing the development of the projects through to successful completion.
Venterra is seeking an individual who will cultivate an environment of excellence and innovation in making Venterra a leader in the affordable housing space.
6-Month Priorities/Deliverables
- Develop a differentiated strategy for Venterra to enter the Affordable Housing Development sector. This will include determining the appropriate Affordable Housing Development model (4%, 9%, PFC/HFC) to pursue, the locational focus within our Texas markets and the necessary resourcing requirements to aggressively grow this new business.
- External networking within the Affordable Housing Development Community to establish Venterra’s brand and position Venterra for long-term success.
- Become familiar with Venterra ethos by meeting with key people, visiting properties and understanding Venterra’s investment approach.
- Establish relationships with key internal peers, including the leaders of Property Operations, Asset Management, Finance, Investor Relations, Research, Acquisitions, Market Rate Development and Engineering/Construction.
- Participate in senior level cross functional meetings, including the annual corporate strategy planning process and regular Development and Construction Group meetings.
- Adapt Venterra’s existing market rate development underwriting model to facilitate affordable housing opportunities.
- Identify, recommend, and hire the necessary supporting resources to accelerate our efforts.
- Actively search for prospective development sites and present opportunities to the Investment Committee.
The Individual
Required Experience
- 15+ years of broad Development leadership experience, a majority of which has been gained in the Affordable Housing Multi-Family Real Estate industry. Past responsibility for the full cycle development of affordable development projects.
- Strategy development including market selection, in-market selection, product specific strategy and affordable development model focus.
- Significant experience in all aspects of developing affordable housing projects in Texas. This includes site identification, underwriting, tax credit application process, navigating the government/PPP approval process, tax credit syndication, IC committee presentation and construction oversight.
- Extensive network within the Texas Affordable Housing development community, including tax syndicators, lawyers, Housing groups, HUD and local politicians.
- Proven leadership experience managing teams (5+ people).
- Experience overseeing the financial performance of development projects during lease-up and in the early years of stabilization.
Education
- Undergraduate Degree required, Masters in Business Administration, or Real Estate Development desirable.
Attributes
- Inherently a leader - values accomplishing results through and with people. Employs the principles of servant leadership. Personifies high standards of excellence and encourages others to embrace and achieve stretch objectives. People strive to achieve under their leadership and take pride in their accomplishments.
- Passionate about a career in Affordable Housing development. Thrives on making a difference and positively impacting the lives of residents and broader communities.
- Tech savvy. Recognizes where and how technology can enhance results.
- Sees work through the lens that continuous improvement and change is always possible. Is a source of new ideas. Seeks out opportunities and embraces change to improve results.
- Highly team oriented and not proprietary in their orientation. Works collaboratively across the organization to achieve partnerships not personal “stardom”.
- A lifelong learner. Intellectually curious and capable of seeking out, absorbing and interpreting information on a wide variety of topics, both within and outside the work context.
- Is personally impatient for progress and results.
- Self-confident; possesses the courage of his/her convictions but can candidly acknowledge personal mistakes. Is not arrogant. Has ego well in check. Is humble about his/her personal role in successes.
- Honest and open communicator. Has excellent interpersonal skills and relates well to a wide range of people.
- Hard working, “get it done” attitude; values a “roll up the sleeves” approach. Able to work longer hours when volume and deadlines dictate.
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