Heather Lawler, Vice President of Finance and Development 

Heather Lawler brings over 19 years of diverse experience in affordable housing finance and development to the firm. Her expertise extends to both small and large-scale new construction and rehabilitation projects from acquisition through construction and lease up. Ms. Lawler’s wide ranging skills include: 

• Credit analysis and underwriting of complex real estate transactions;
• Preparation of financing applications including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Federal Home Loan Bank, tax-exempt and taxable bond financing, and other public subsidies;
• Preparation of debt and equity proposals for acquisition, development, construction and permanent financing;
• Coordinating multiple funding sources and effectuating public-private partnerships;
• Proposal writing, compliance and monitoring for government and private grants and loans;
• Strategic and business planning for non-profits;
• Organizational development, including fiscal analysis for non-profits, municipalities and housing authorities.

Prior to joining The Metro Company in 2010, Ms. Lawler was a Senior Community Development Officer with the New York City office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. In addition to providing loans, grants, and technical assistance to community development corporations in the five boroughs for affordable housing and commercial projects, she managed a homeownership production program that resulted in the rehabilitation and sale of more than 350 City-owned homes to low income families.

In 2008 Ms. Lawler helped to coordinate LISC’s foreclosure response in NYC in the wake of the subprime mortgage lending crisis, assisting in advocacy efforts and in the deployment of resources from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. She also staffed the organization’s consulting arm, which specialized in the refinance and renovation of occupied, distressed federally assisted multifamily housing stock such as HUD 202 and Section 236 properties.

Ms. Lawler also acted as acquisitions officer for the New York Equity Fund, an affiliate of the National Equity Fund and the Enterprise Social Investment Corporation, which made equity investments in low income housing tax credit projects. Prior to joining LISC, Ms. Lawler worked at the Surdna Foundation in New York City, where she focused on developing infrastructure support for the non-profit sector as well as community development.

Ms. Lawler holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Davidson College, and an MBA in finance from Fordham’s Graduate School of Business, with a focus on real estate finance. She holds Certifications in Low Income Housing Tax Credit Compliance and Rental Housing Finance from the National Development Council, and has served on the Boards of several non-profit housing development organizations.