Michael P. Kelly
Encyclopedia
Michael P. Kelly is an architect
and urban planner
who has led the public housing authorities
of several large U.S. cities, and is a leading advocate for public policy
that promotes affordable housing
in the country.
in 1977, and went on to receive a Masters of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1983; and a Master of Arts in Education from San Francisco State University that same year.
to head a public housing authority in the U.S.
In 1994, Kelly left San Francisco to serve at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) as a Troubled Agency Recovery Specialist, providing technical assistance to the Transition Team at the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Then in 1995, he was named executive director of the New Orleans housing authority—a post he held until 2000.
In 2000, Kelly assumed leadership of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), one of the nation’s largest with a staff of 800 and operating and capital budgets of more than $300 million. DCHA administers 8,000 units of public housing and 12,000 units under the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), providing affordable housing
for nearly 10 percent of the District’s population.
Since 1993, the DCHA has received over $182 million in HOPE VI
grants from HUD to redevelop properties where aging public housing once stood. These competitive grants
were leveraged into more than $1.5 billion with additional public and private resources. Seven HOPE VI
projects have been completed or are under construction bringing low-and moderate-income, workforce
and market rate housing for rent and purchase to areas across the city.
Kelly stepped up this process in recent years with a number of ambitious HOPE VI developments including the Arthur Capper-Carrollsburg project, which sits at the center of Washington, D.C.’s, Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, an area of major real estate activity in the city.
The redevelopment is the most ambitious HOPE VI
project in the country and ultimately will provide approximately 2,100 housing units
for purchase and rent including accessible
units, as well as office and retail space, a community center and Canal Park.
The development is building a unit for each lost to demolition of the old Capper/Carrollsburg public housing property—a one-to-one replacement that is unique in large cities with tight housing markets.
A number of the DCHA’s HOPE VI communities have won awards of recognition, including the Urban Land Institute
Award of Excellence for the DCHA’s Townhomes on Capitol Hill development. The DCHA’s Wheeler Creek Development was awarded the HUD’s Best Practices award in 2000, Best in American Living Design
, and the HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence and the National Association of Homebuilders award in 2002.
Kelly has been described as being in the “public housing vanguard” for putting DCHA on a strong financial footing and creating a new strategic planning
process for the authority that takes a corporate approach to management of the organization’s business requirements and opportunities.
For eight consecutive years, DCHA has received unqualified audits
from independent auditors. And in 2004 Moody’s Investment Service conducted an independent organizational assessment of DCHA, giving it an AA rating. A second assessment in 2007 resulted in an upgrade to MQ1, Moody’s highest rating for financial and management operations.
The authority also secured an $80 million bond deal to finance modernization of public housing and met the two-year deadline to obligate funds.
Under his leadership, DCHA also established three subsidiaries as well as its own Energy Service Company (ESCO), the first housing authority in the country to do so. The company provides energy services to all of the DCHA properties, savings significant dollars, while making public housing more energy efficient
. Among its achievements is the installation of a green roof
on one DCHA senior property.
Also under Kelly’s tenure, DCHA implemented the first Housing Choice Voucher
Homeownership Program in the city, which to date has helped nearly 200 renters become first time homeowners
. The authority also received a HUD designation of Moving to Work (MTW), one of just of 30 housing authorities selected to participate in this program, which allows DCHA to modify or eliminate HUD rules in order to better serve the local needs of public housing residents and voucher participants.
Kelly also led the creation of the DCHA’s customer-centered work environment through staff training, performance incentives and the design and implementation of a customer service structure. This initiative included the establishment a state-of-the-art Customer Call Center
, which now provides higher levels of efficiency in responding to the needs of residents, stakeholders and the public.
In 2008, Kenneth Donohue, Inspector General for HUD, presented the Inspector General’s Service Award to Kelly.
. Donohue stated that Kelly has headed the authority since it emerged from court-ordered receivership in 2000 and, “Today, it’s one of the best programs in the nation.” The national award represents “excellence in public service and accountability to the people we serve.”
On October 1, 2009, New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
named Kelly to serve as General Manager of the city’s public housing agency, just one day after Kelly’s last day at work in D.C.
As General Manager of the New York City Housing Authority
, the largest public housing authority in North America, he manages 178,000 apartments in 338 developments. Another 640,000 New York City residents are served by the Section 8 housing voucher program.
Kelly announced his resignation from DCHA Sept. 14, allowing his contract to expire at the end of the month. His departure ends a nine-year reign in which he attracted seven federal HOPE VI grants for development of mixed-income housing, second most of any jurisdiction in the nation, and rehabbed or tore down some of the country’s most dilapidated housing projects.
in Washington, D.C.
He also serves as a Preceptor for the Project 55 Fellowship program at Princeton University
, mentoring graduates with an interest in public service through a year-long fellowship. From 1997 to 2000, Kelly served as the Harvey-Wadsworth Professor of Urban Affairs at Tulane University
, as well as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley School of Architecture during the early 1980s. He received teaching credentials in New Jersey and California, and graduated from Princeton's program in Teaching Preparation.
, research, policy analysis and public education.
He also serves as vice chairman of the National Organization of African Americans in Housing and sits on the boards of the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare; District of Columbia Interagency Commission on Homelessness; and the Canal Park Development Association. In 2009, he became Chairman of the Board of City Year
, DC.
Kelly is a member of the American Institute of Architects
; the National Housing Conference; the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials; the American Planning Association; the American Institute of Certified Planners; and is the US Green Building Council's Lead Green Associate.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and urban planner
Urban planner
An urban planner or city planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning/land use planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically...
who has led the public housing authorities
Public housing in the United States
Public housing in the United States has been administered by federal, state and local agencies to provide subsidized assistance for low-income and people living in poverty. Now increasingly provided in a variety of settings and formats, originally public housing in the U.S...
of several large U.S. cities, and is a leading advocate for public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
that promotes affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
in the country.
Early life and education
Kelly was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture and Urban Planning at Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1977, and went on to receive a Masters of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1983; and a Master of Arts in Education from San Francisco State University that same year.
Public Housing Career
Kelly began his career in the public housing arena as an architect for the San Francisco Housing Authority in 1983. For nearly a decade, Kelly held a series of progressively responsible positions at the authority and was ultimately named its acting executive director—becoming the first registered architectArchitect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
to head a public housing authority in the U.S.
In 1994, Kelly left San Francisco to serve at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
(HUD) as a Troubled Agency Recovery Specialist, providing technical assistance to the Transition Team at the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Then in 1995, he was named executive director of the New Orleans housing authority—a post he held until 2000.
In 2000, Kelly assumed leadership of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), one of the nation’s largest with a staff of 800 and operating and capital budgets of more than $300 million. DCHA administers 8,000 units of public housing and 12,000 units under the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), providing affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
for nearly 10 percent of the District’s population.
Major Professional Accomplishments
It has been Kelly’s tenure as Executive Director of the DCHA that has garnered him the most national attention. A March 2008 article in the New York Times, called Kelly’s work “Washington’s Grand Experiment to Rehouse the Poor,” because of a number of large redevelopment projects initiated under his leadership.Since 1993, the DCHA has received over $182 million in HOPE VI
HOPE VI
HOPE VI is a plan by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is meant to revitalize the worst public housing projects in the United States into mixed-income developments. Its philosophy is largely based on New Urbanism and the concept of Defensible space.The program began...
grants from HUD to redevelop properties where aging public housing once stood. These competitive grants
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
were leveraged into more than $1.5 billion with additional public and private resources. Seven HOPE VI
HOPE VI
HOPE VI is a plan by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is meant to revitalize the worst public housing projects in the United States into mixed-income developments. Its philosophy is largely based on New Urbanism and the concept of Defensible space.The program began...
projects have been completed or are under construction bringing low-and moderate-income, workforce
Workforce housing
Workforce housing is a term that is increasingly used by planners, government, and organizations concerned with housing policy or advocacy. It is gaining cachet with realtors, developers and lenders. Workforce housing can refer to any form of housing, including ownership of single or multi-family...
and market rate housing for rent and purchase to areas across the city.
Kelly stepped up this process in recent years with a number of ambitious HOPE VI developments including the Arthur Capper-Carrollsburg project, which sits at the center of Washington, D.C.’s, Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, an area of major real estate activity in the city.
The redevelopment is the most ambitious HOPE VI
HOPE VI
HOPE VI is a plan by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is meant to revitalize the worst public housing projects in the United States into mixed-income developments. Its philosophy is largely based on New Urbanism and the concept of Defensible space.The program began...
project in the country and ultimately will provide approximately 2,100 housing units
Unit (housing)
A unit is a measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household.In common speech in Australia and New Zealand, the word "unit", when referring to housing, usually means either: an apartment, ;or a villa unit or home unit, where a group of dwellings...
for purchase and rent including accessible
Accessibility
Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity...
units, as well as office and retail space, a community center and Canal Park.
The development is building a unit for each lost to demolition of the old Capper/Carrollsburg public housing property—a one-to-one replacement that is unique in large cities with tight housing markets.
A number of the DCHA’s HOPE VI communities have won awards of recognition, including the Urban Land Institute
Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a non-profit research and education organization with offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London...
Award of Excellence for the DCHA’s Townhomes on Capitol Hill development. The DCHA’s Wheeler Creek Development was awarded the HUD’s Best Practices award in 2000, Best in American Living Design
Best in American Living awards
The Best in American Living awards are a national residential design competition sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders- Scope :...
, and the HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence and the National Association of Homebuilders award in 2002.
Kelly has been described as being in the “public housing vanguard” for putting DCHA on a strong financial footing and creating a new strategic planning
Strategic planning
Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues...
process for the authority that takes a corporate approach to management of the organization’s business requirements and opportunities.
For eight consecutive years, DCHA has received unqualified audits
Auditor's report
The auditor's report is a formal opinion, or disclaimer thereof, issued by either an internal auditor or an independent external auditor as a result of an internal or external audit or evaluation performed on a legal entity or subdivision thereof...
from independent auditors. And in 2004 Moody’s Investment Service conducted an independent organizational assessment of DCHA, giving it an AA rating. A second assessment in 2007 resulted in an upgrade to MQ1, Moody’s highest rating for financial and management operations.
The authority also secured an $80 million bond deal to finance modernization of public housing and met the two-year deadline to obligate funds.
Under his leadership, DCHA also established three subsidiaries as well as its own Energy Service Company (ESCO), the first housing authority in the country to do so. The company provides energy services to all of the DCHA properties, savings significant dollars, while making public housing more energy efficient
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
. Among its achievements is the installation of a green roof
Green roof
A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems...
on one DCHA senior property.
Also under Kelly’s tenure, DCHA implemented the first Housing Choice Voucher
Section 8 (housing)
Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 , as repeatedly amended, authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of approximately 3.1 million low-income households...
Homeownership Program in the city, which to date has helped nearly 200 renters become first time homeowners
. The authority also received a HUD designation of Moving to Work (MTW), one of just of 30 housing authorities selected to participate in this program, which allows DCHA to modify or eliminate HUD rules in order to better serve the local needs of public housing residents and voucher participants.
Kelly also led the creation of the DCHA’s customer-centered work environment through staff training, performance incentives and the design and implementation of a customer service structure. This initiative included the establishment a state-of-the-art Customer Call Center
Call centre
A call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,...
, which now provides higher levels of efficiency in responding to the needs of residents, stakeholders and the public.
In 2008, Kenneth Donohue, Inspector General for HUD, presented the Inspector General’s Service Award to Kelly.
. Donohue stated that Kelly has headed the authority since it emerged from court-ordered receivership in 2000 and, “Today, it’s one of the best programs in the nation.” The national award represents “excellence in public service and accountability to the people we serve.”
On October 1, 2009, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
named Kelly to serve as General Manager of the city’s public housing agency, just one day after Kelly’s last day at work in D.C.
As General Manager of the New York City Housing Authority
New York City Housing Authority
The New York City Housing Authority provides public housing for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the five boroughs of New York City. NYCHA also administers a citywide Section 8 Leased Housing Program in rental apartments...
, the largest public housing authority in North America, he manages 178,000 apartments in 338 developments. Another 640,000 New York City residents are served by the Section 8 housing voucher program.
Kelly announced his resignation from DCHA Sept. 14, allowing his contract to expire at the end of the month. His departure ends a nine-year reign in which he attracted seven federal HOPE VI grants for development of mixed-income housing, second most of any jurisdiction in the nation, and rehabbed or tore down some of the country’s most dilapidated housing projects.
Academic Appointments
Kelly currently holds a number of academic appointments including assistant adjunct professor in the School of Architecture and Engineering at Howard UniversityHoward University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He also serves as a Preceptor for the Project 55 Fellowship program at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, mentoring graduates with an interest in public service through a year-long fellowship. From 1997 to 2000, Kelly served as the Harvey-Wadsworth Professor of Urban Affairs at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, as well as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley School of Architecture during the early 1980s. He received teaching credentials in New Jersey and California, and graduated from Princeton's program in Teaching Preparation.
Professional Leadership Positions
Kelly is the President of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, a Washington, D.C., based national non-profit organization whose members represent large metropolitan areas in the U.S. The council works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacyAdvocacy
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...
, research, policy analysis and public education.
He also serves as vice chairman of the National Organization of African Americans in Housing and sits on the boards of the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare; District of Columbia Interagency Commission on Homelessness; and the Canal Park Development Association. In 2009, he became Chairman of the Board of City Year
City Year
City Year is an education-focused nonprofit organization that partners with public schools to provide full-time targeted intervention keeping students in school and on track to graduate...
, DC.
Kelly is a member of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
; the National Housing Conference; the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials; the American Planning Association; the American Institute of Certified Planners; and is the US Green Building Council's Lead Green Associate.
External links
- The District of Columbia Housing Authority
- District of Columbia Website
- Bio: Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
- The San Francisco Housing Authority
- National Organization of African-Americans in Housing
- Housing Authority of New Orleans
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- City Year Washington, DC