Exploring New Models for Affordable Housing
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
September 12, 2011
Olson Lee
Olson Lee serves as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) while on leave from the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. MOH provides financing for the development and purchase of affordable housing in San Francisco. MOH also provides grants and loans to community-based organizations that work to strengthen the social, physical, and economic infrastructure of San Francisco's low-income neighborhoods and communities in need. MOH develops policy in a variety of areas that impact housing development including planning and zoning ordinances, development agreements, and neighborhood plans. Prior to MOH, Mr. Lee served as Deputy Executive Director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency for 15 years where he was responsible for the administration of the Agency’s housing programs, including the use of tax increment housing funds within Agency project areas and throughout the City, the administration of the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program, the oversight of housing project development, the administration of tax-exempt mortgage revenue bond financing, the administration of land dispositions, and the oversight of owner participation agreements. Since 1989, the Agency’s tax increment housing program has provided over $500 million in loans and grants leveraging in excess of $1.9 billion to assist over 11,000 units and beds. The Agency has assisted an additional 2,500 units from other funding sources. The Agency has an outstanding portfolio of $670 million in tax-exempt multifamily bonds. The Agency’s current housing budget is approximately $70,000,000 of which approximately $8 million are federal HOPWA funds. Prior to the Agency, Mr. Lee worked for six years as Chief Housing Finance Officer for the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing. Prior to the Mayor’s Office, Mr. Lee worked for nine years as Senior Multifamily Field Service Officer for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. In 2003, Mr. Lee was recognized for his work on preserving at-risk affordable housing with a Public Managerial Excellence Award from the Municipal Fiscal Advisory Committee, now a part of SPUR. In 2010, Mr. Lee received the Distinguished Public Official Award from the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California. Mr. Lee serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the California Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies. Mr. Lee served as President of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies. Mr. Lee served on the Loan Committee, the Nonprofit Space Capital Fund Project Review Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Northern California Community Loan Fund. Mr. Lee graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Maryland, College Park.
