Affordable housing finance and development
Claire Parisa is a Lecturer in City and Regional planning and an expert in California affordable housing finance and development. As an Associate Director at the California Housing Partnership, she supervises and mentors a team of financial consultants and provides financial consulting, technical assistance, and training to the Partnership’s government and nonprofit partners. Claire has experience with federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, tax-exempt bond financing (public and private placement), State of California HCD programs, Historic Tax Credits, and local funding programs throughout California. Claire also has a breadth of experience working with the LIHTC and tax-exempt bond programs in Oregon and Washington state. During her tenure as a financial consultant, Claire has helped secure over $1.5B in affordable housing funding and the creation of over 2,000 units of affordable housing. Claire has also trained over 2,000 individuals across multiple topics in affordable housing finance from LIHTC to tax-exempt bonds to limited partnership tax structuring.
Prior to joining the California Housing Partnership, Claire worked at the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC). There, Claire managed the development of of four different affordable housing projects in San Francisco totaling over 500 units. Before turning to domestic affordable housing development, Claire worked with self-built communities across Latin America on housing rights and economic development and with various domestic cooperative housing initiatives.
Claire earned her Master’s in City Planning (MCP) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Society & Environment from the University of California, Berkeley. Claire is an appointed member of the City of Piedmont Housing Advisory Committee (HAC) advising the City on updating the Housing Element and providing technical housing development expertise. She is also a proud member of the Piedmont Racial Equity Campaign (PREC). Previously, Claire served on NPH’s Emerging Leaders Peer Network (ELPN) Steering Committee as a Professional Development Subcommittee Co-Chair from 2017-2019.
CYPLAN 235: Methods of Project Analysis
CP 238: Development--Design Studio