Kathe Head is the President of Keyser Marston Associates, Inc. and the Managing Principal of the Los Angeles office.  Kathe joined the firm in 1983, and manages the firm’s affordable housing practice.  She also provides public and private clients with real estate economic analysis for a wide variety of land uses

Key Role

Kathe plays a key role in structuring affordable housing transactions, strategy development, policy analyses and program creation for housing successors to former redevelopment agencies, cities and counties throughout California.  She also actively participates in crafting California legislative housing initiatives.

During her tenure at Keyser Marston, Kathe has assisted more than 100 public sector clients throughout California, and has also represented several clients in other western states.  A representative sample of clients that she has assisted includes Long Beach, Anaheim, Burbank, Culver City, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.

Specific Areas of Expertise

Affordable Housing Transactions

Kathe advises clients in structuring a wide variety of affordable housing projects, with transactions ranging from the complex leveraging and layering of multiple funding sources for multi-phased mixed-use projects, to the simple acquisition and rehabilitation of single buildings.  Her involvement with projects ranges from the initial creation of RFP/Q’s for developer solicitation, to the negotiation and implementation of the agreement that will guide the development.  She has experience working with Property Tax Increment Housing Set-Aside funds; Federal HOME, CDBG, Section 202, Section 811 and NSP funds; Federal and State Low Income Housing Tax Credits; Tax-Exempt Multi-Family Bonds; California Housing and Community Development Department programs including the Multi-Family Housing Program, BEGIN and CalHome; and Affordable Housing Program funds offered by the Federal Home Loan Bank.

Affordable Housing Strategies / Policies

Kathe has assisted in creating much of the major affordable housing legislation enacted by the State of California.  Utilizing that expertise, she has assisted several cities in developing comprehensive strategies for fulfilling both the legal requirements and the client’s policy goals and objectives.

Affordable Housing Programs

Kathe has participated in the creation of over 20 inclusionary housing programs.  These programs are designed to assist the jurisdiction in fulfilling the affordable housing production requirements that were imposed by the California Redevelopment Law and the Regional Housing Needs Assessment goals imposed for Housing Element purposes.  Her role includes the recommendation of the appropriate requirements to be applied by each jurisdiction, the accompanying economic burden analysis and in-lieu fees studies.

Kathe has assisted numerous clients in the creation of home buyer programs, rehabilitation loan programs and programs targeting specific neighborhoods for a variety of affordable housing activities.

Professional Credentials

Kathe holds master’s degrees in business administration and urban planning from UCLA, and a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA.  She has taught the Advanced Affordable Housing and Inclusionary Housing courses offered by the CRA; lectured at the UCLA and USC Planning Schools; and is a frequent speaker at League of Cities, American Planning Association and NAHRO conferences.

Contact Kathe

email: khead@keysermarston.com | phone 213.622.8095