E.P. “Pete” Walker, Jr.
CEO

Pete Walker serves as the CEO of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), bringing more than 25 years of expertise in facilitating affordable housing development, financing and programs.

Mr. Walker also serves as President and CEO of the Housing Authority of DeKalb County (HADC), of which HDC is a nonprofit affiliate. Walker was appointed Executive Director of HADC in October 2010 and has since led the agency in applying innovative business practices in its approach to affordable housing and development.

In 2011, Walker launched HDC as the development arm of HADC and have grown the portfolio from 12 units in 2011 to more than 2,500 affordable housing units which the HADC and HDC together own and/or manage. HADC administers a federally assisted housing portfolio of over 5,700 Housing Choice Vouchers in DeKalb County. The Agency continues to actively expand its portfolio of affordable housing communities.

Prior to joining HADC, Walker was President of Mercy Housing Southeast (MHSE) from 2007-2010. Mercy Housing, Inc. (Mercy) is a national Nonprofit Development Corporation headquartered in Denver, Colorado. With assets of nearly $2 billion and properties in 41 states, Mercy is in the top five nonprofit developers of affordable housing in the United States. In Walker’s capacity as President of MHSE, he was responsible for setting the strategy and direction for expanding Mercy’s southeastern affordable housing development footprint while maintaining a quality portfolio. During his 3 year tenure, he grew MHSE from five (5) properties to 18 properties located in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Ohio. Walker spearheaded development of more than 10 affordable housing projects of which seven (7) were 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects.

In 2003, Walker founded Millennium Development Partners (MDP). He specialized in development consulting, facilitating the production of affordable housing by creating development/project partnerships between Authorities, Developers and/or Nonprofits. MDP structured and implemented financings using tax-exempt debt along with 4% tax credits, conventional debt along with 9% tax credits and various other tax-exempt revenue bond structures including Construction Notes, Essential Function Bonds and 501(c)(3) Bonds.

From 1998 to 2002, Walker was the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer for the Atlanta Development Authority. Reporting directly to the President of the City of Atlanta’s commercial and residential development arm, Walker was responsible for all fiscal and financial affairs supervising the Authority’s Finance, Accounting and Administration departments as well as overseeing the financial operations of the Authority – including 52 bond issues totaling more than $800 million in assets and its nine subsidiaries in implementing approximately $250 million in development plans and projects throughout the city.

Walker began his career in affordable housing development and finance in 1989 as Finance Director for the Urban Residential Finance Authority of the City of Atlanta. In this role, he was responsible for maintaining the Authority’s $300 million tax-exempt bond portfolio and all of its other fiscal affairs.

A native of Georgia, Walker received a BA degree from Clark Atlanta University where he graduated cum laude.

John Corcoran
President

John Corcoran is the President of Housing Development Corporation (HDC), where he serves in a leadership role for all Real Estate Development, Asset Management, and Property Management.

Mr. Corcoran has 20 years of experience specializing in Real Estate Acquisition, Development, Financing, Bond Program Management, New Market Tax Credits (NMTC), Affordable Housing, Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Tax Exempt Bonds, Private Activity Bonds, 501(c)(3) Bonds, HOME, CDBG, Asset Management, and HCV (Section 8) Program Services.

Prior to coming to HDC, Corcoran was affiliated with PTS Consulting Group. Mr. Corcoran previously served as the Assistant Director of Community Works Carolina, a nonprofit financial services organization where he served from (October 2010 to January 2014). Prior to joining Community Works Carolina, he was Vice President of Tax Advantage Group (2010). Corcoran was a Regional Vice President of Development for Mercy Housing (2007-2010). He also served as a Vice President of Millennium Development Partners (MDP) (2003-2007) and has worked in Capital Markets for JDN Realty, Inc. (2001-2003) and as a Vice President of Brencor Asset Management (1996-2000).

Corcoran earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics from The University of Georgia and a MBA from Anderson University in South Carolina.

Keri Taylor-Spann
Vice President of Development

Keri Taylor-Spann is the Vice President of Development for the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). She has over 15 years experience in asset management for commercial, multi-family and mixed-use properties – with a focus on increasing the profitability of underperforming assets and improving internal operations.

Through various leadership roles, Ms. Taylor-Spann increased net operating income for distressed assets with Carter & Associates, transitioned over $200 million of redevelopment and new construction assets into operations for The Related Companies, and streamlined real estate management operations for New Plan Excel (now Brixmor Property Group). In addition to responsibility for reporting, forecasting, budgeting, financial analysis, and leasing, she also has been active in due diligence for 13 million square feet of past Kimco Realty acquisitions and dispositions.

Originally from New York City, Taylor-Spann holds an MBA in Finance from Long Island University and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

Maria Grizzell
Vice President of Asset Management

Maria Grizzell joined Housing Development Corporation (HDC) in August 2017 as Director of Asset Management and Financial Analysis. Ms. Grizzell brings more than 25 years of experience in Property Management, with 20 years of experience as a Controller, specializing in Property Management Accounting and Finance for LIHTC and HUD as well as Market Rate properties. Ms. Grizzell’s experience includes Strategic Planning, Asset Management, Real Estate Development and Construction Management, Real Estate Transactions, Contract Negotiations, Procurement, Financial Reporting, Customer Service, and Auditing.

Prior to joining HDC, Ms. Grizzell worked for Ambling Property Investments (a company headquartered out of Valdosta, Georgia) for nearly 15 years, serving as Vice President of Asset Management (2010-2017) and Controller (2002-2017). She also served as Controller for Brencor Asset Management in Atlanta for three years (1999-2002) before that.

Ms. Grizzell is a graduate of Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, where she received a B.A. in Accounting and Spanish.