Galante of U.S. HUD addresses NYHC event

A standing-room-only audience of multifamily residential real estate professionals filled a large conference room at the law offices of Nixon Peabody for the N.Y. Housing Conference's first-ever "Brown Bag Luncheon" event. The featured speaker was Carol Galante, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, who heads the federal government's multifamily housing programs. Galante, who formerly was president of BRIDGE Housing Corp., said that HUD's "Transforming Rental Assistance" initiative was a top priority. If enacted by Congress, it would provide a common set of rules to align all 13 federal rental assistance programs. Galante, who made a special trip to New York from Washington to address the NYHC luncheon, is responsible for HUD's financing support for the development and preservation of privately-owned rental housing, a current portfolio of over $58 billion.