RNDC Team

Victor Smeltz is the Executive Director of Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Volunteers of America. Since the inception of RNDC in October 2006, he has focused on formulating and implementing its post-Katrina development strategy to create over 1000 new units of mixed-income workforce housing in Greater New Orleans. Prior to joining the Volunteers of America, he served for over five years as Development Director for the Housing Authority of Portland in Portland, Oregon. Leading a four person development team, he was responsible for the development and acquisition of more than 750 mixed-income rental units financed by low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, local tax-increment financing and other state and federal sources, with a focus on the development of mixed-use, mixed-income urban neighborhood housing.

From 1991 through 2000, Mr. Smeltz held various positions at the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, the Housing Finance Agency for the State of Oregon. For three years, he served as Manager of Housing Finance, during which time he established the FHA Risk Sharing Program in Oregon and financed over 625 mixed-income units with a total loan volume of more than $28 million. He managed the underwriting team responsible for the origination and closing of all other multi-family project loans made by the agency, with an annual volume between $20 and $30 million. Mr. Smeltz also created a special position to initiate the development of a number of downtown mixed-use projects in communities throughout Oregon. In cooperation with local municipalities, he acquired sites, conceptualized projects, assembled financing, and solicited and selected private developers to complete the projects.

Prior to becoming involved in affordable housing, Mr. Smeltz worked in the design and construction of a number of real estate projects in Oregon and California. For three years he served as owner's representative for the Marriott Corporation, managing all professional design consultants, and coordinating with construction personnel for the development a 1500 room high-rise convention hotel in San Francisco. Early in his career, he worked for five years with the office of Skidmore Owings and Merrill in Portland, responsible for the design and construction document production for a variety of commercial, office, medical and market rate housing developments.

Mr. Smeltz is an honor graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architecture. He has completed extensive coursework as a Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM) Candidate, and is a registered architect in the state of Oregon, as well as with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB.) Mr. Smeltz has also served on the Boards of a number of non-profit corporations involved with the development of mixed-income housing and resident services.

Amber Seely is the Finance Program Director for Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corporation. Her responsibilities include underwriting and closing financing for RNDC's mixed-use, multi-family rental housing and single-family homeownership initiatives. Working closely with the Executive Director, Ms. Seely's role is to manage a portfolio of development projects and their financial models, prepare and submit applications, liaison with outside legal, accounting and financial consultants, and serve as a member of the closing team. Ms. Seely also leads community outreach for RNDC presenting project development plans and financing to partners, funders and the community.

Ms. Seely is currently a Rockefeller Foundation Redevelopment Fellow through the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence (CUREx) at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Seely graduated in May 2007 with a M.S. in Urban Policy from Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy in New York. At Milano, Ms. Seely was a Community Development Finance Lab Fellow where she worked on several consulting projects on a variety of economic development and community development topics. Prior to graduate school, Ms. Seely was a project coordinator at Deloitte and Touche then helped start and run an online retail business leading the purchasing and strategic development departments. She received her B.A. in International Affairs from Gordon College.