Experience

Cindy Picone Consulting LLC is a WBE certified, woman owned affordable housing and finance consulting firm. Cindy Picone, President and Principal, has over 30 years of experience in housing and community development and finance, during which time she has been the lead project manager in over 40 real estate developments consisting of 2,126 units. She has provided both lead and supervisory project management on over thirty low-income housing tax credit developments, the majority of which are located in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Cindy’s real estate development experience includes affordable and market rate rental housing, market rate condominium development, commercial space associated with multifamily rental buildings, and affordable for sale homeownership developments. She also has extensive experience with multi-phase, neighborhood transforming redevelopments in HOPE VI and CHOICE neighborhoods. Her work has involved partnerships with neighborhood-based community groups and public housing authorities. A number of developments she has worked on have been designed to LEED, LEED ND, Enterprise Green Communities, and Passive House standards.

Prior to forming Cindy Picone Consulting LLC, Cindy was a Principal at Diamond and Associates, an affordable housing development consulting firm based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where for five years, Cindy supported dozens of affordable housing developments in various stages of the development process. For twenty years prior to her time at Diamond, Cindy led the development efforts at 2 different Pittsburgh based for profit real estate development companies — a.m. RODRIGUEZ ASSOCIATES inc. and Ralph A. Falbo, Inc. where she was a joint employee with Pennrose Properties out of Philadelphia. Her responsibilities included identifying new business opportunities, determining the financial feasibility of prospective developments, responding to Requests for Proposals and Qualifications for development services, overseeing projects through predevelopment, obtaining and closing on financing, commencing construction, budget management through construction, project transition to management, and financial close out.

Cindy has extensive experience applying for and obtaining financing including 4% and 9% low income housing tax credits, bond financing, Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program funding, HOPE VI, RAD, Capital Fund, subordinate loan funds from Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and from Ohio Housing Finance Agency, equity bridge loan financing from Ohio Housing Finance Agency, various local sources of financing including HOME funding, and conventional financing.

Prior to her work with for profit affordable housing developers, Cindy worked in other aspects of the affordable housing and community development industry including in the role of funder. In Indianapolis she worked for the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership where she created the Indianapolis Housing Trust Fund (permanent funding was obtained after her tenure). She also assisted the non-profit in creating a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and obtained a CDFI grant for this purpose. She also established multifamily underwriting and loan guidelines.

Cindy also worked in San Antonio, Texas for the San Antonio Housing Trust Fund where she coordinated the application processes for affordable housing proposals from developers seeking financing, and from community development corporations seeking operating assistance. While there, Cindy oversaw a subordinate loan and down payment assistance program for low income buyers purchasing homes in an affordable parade of homes sponsored by the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Housing Trust Fund. Cindy also worked for the San Antonio Housing Authority on property acquisitions from the Resolution Trust Corporation’s Affordable Housing Disposition Program and created a procedures manual for Section 8 compliance at properties the Agency had recently acquired.

Cindy began her work in the housing and community development field as a community organizer with Oakland Planning and Development Corporation in Pittsburgh where she provided staff support to various Oakland Community Groups and, among other job functions, she assisted with the creation of the Oakland Transportation Management Association. She holds BA and MS of Urban and Regional Planning degrees from the University of Pittsburgh.

Cindy is a board member of the Pennsylvania Developers’ Council and is a member of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) committee. Cindy also serves on the Real Estate Committee of the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation. She is also a member of the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania.