Merchants Capital, a mortgage banking company, has named Dwayne George as its executive vice president, national head of production.
George has 15 years of experience in multifamily production and management, including most recently as senior director of target affordable housing production at Freddie Mac.
“My experience in the private sector and at Freddie Mac has fueled my pursuit of providing a dynamic approach to multifamily finance with a hyper-focus on the customer experience,” George said. “The team at Merchants shares my vision to effectively and efficiently expand the firm’s national affordable multifamily housing presence in the market. I’m excited to play an active role in advancing Merchants Capital’s commitment to continued excellence.”
Grace Hill has appointed three executives to its senior leadership team in newly created roles.
Kendall Pretzer has been appointed chief operating officer, Brad Becker will serve as chief technology officer and chief product officer, and Amy Acosta has been named chief financial officer.
Pretzer has experience in multifamily property management, and is the founder of The Strategic Solution, a pioneering policy management business that was acquired by Grace Hill in 2018. Most recently, Pretzer served as executive vice president and account management leader at Grace Hill.
Becker will serve as Grace Hill’s first chief product officer, bringing forward his experience as the former chief design officer for IBM Watson. Becker is also the founder of AI and VR company Sentient Play, which explores emerging technology for storytelling and games.
Acosta brings to the role of CFO more than two decades of financial and operational leadership in the software, software-as-a-service and professional services industries. Acosta is a member of the national CFO Leadership Council’s steering committee and a speaker on CFO excellence in technology-enabled businesses. Acosta was previously at Kasasa, a financial technology and marketing services company where she served as chief financial officer.
Grant Brittain has joined Radian as senior vice president, title sales.
Before joining Radian, Brittain was at States Title as vice president of sales and interim president of Texas.
Walker & Dunlop and GeoPhy has announced the expansion of its multifamily appraisal business, Apprise, with the addition of Doug Koch as senior director and affordable practice lead, and Kelly Beigle as senior director.
Prior to joining Apprise, Koch was manager and principal of Advisory Affiliates, where he participated in affordable and workforce housing development ventures arranging tax credit and private equity financing, assisting with organizational formation, and coordinating underwriting activities
Beigle was previously a director in Cushman & Wakefield’s Valuation & Advisory group leading the Affordable Housing Specialty Practice in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore regions. There, she provided valuation and consulting services to clients involved in the financing, management, and development of LIHTC, Project-Based Section 8, and HUD/FHA properties.
