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Providing a Common Language
The Asset & Property Management Affinity Group
Comprised of asset management staff, property management staff, City and State funders and interested parties, the Housing Development Consortium’s Asset & Property Management Affinity Group meets the fourth Wednesday of each month at 2 pm at Impact Capital’s offices. The Affinity Group, a peer learning network, created an asset management continuum as the platform for discussions around current topics in asset and property management as well as how policy decisions impact practice on the street. This group differs from others around the country in that funders and investors are active participants. It is also the place for practitioners to share experiences and learn from each other. “It is my safe place to share those issues which can only be appreciated by other practitioners,” says Maiko Winkler Chin, Seattle Chinatown International District PDA.
The Affinity Group initiated their first substantial discussions around best practices, performance measurements, and developing a common language for those involved in the affordable housing field. Out of these discussions, the group created the Best Practices Toolkit. The Toolkit provides a list of benchmarks and performance measurements, their definitions and calculations, the dashboard (a set of standards selected to benchmark performance) with industry and King County standards, and a “my organization” tab for organizations to customize benchmarks for their organization and create a matrix of who should receive the information. A copy is available through HDC or Impact Capital.
The Group probed the roles of asset management versus property management, dissected capital needs assessments, met with the Resident Services Affinity Group, and is currently exploring restructuring strategies. “These are critical issues and it is wonderful to have such broad-based participation,” says Sue Cary, Capitol Hill Housing. The Affinity group has been a sounding board for public funders to help refine tools and has spurred new training topics for Impact Capital’s training program. The Affinity Group is co-chaired by Sue Cary and Maiko Winkler Chin and has a facilitator, Tracy Reich, thanks to the generosity of the State Housing Division. The Group also thanks the City of Seattle’s Office of Housing who has also provided some funding for facilitation. If you are interested in attending, please contact HDC to be added to the mailing list.
Reprinted from the August 2009 HOUSINGnews Housing Development Consortium Monthly.