About Us
American Communities is dedicated to providing thoughtfully designed, environmentally friendly housing and development while contributing to the enhancement of everyday life for the residents of each community in which we build. Our long term commitment to our partners and the communities in which we develop, ensures that our complexes are built in suitable locations, out of superior materials and constructed by expert craftsmen.
Mark Walther and Frank Fonseca, American Communities’ founders, have extensive backgrounds in all aspects of affordable housing finance, development and asset management. Mr. Walther, during his 13-year tenure at a national real estate sponsor, oversaw the acquisition of 250 tax credit properties nationwide. At the same time, he was a principal of a registered broker dealer, which raised approximately $800 million in 12 separate public and private offerings registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Fonseca spent 15 years as a Certified Public Accountant with a Big 6 Accounting Firm and, in the 5 years prior to founding American Communities, oversaw an asset management department that controlled 35,000 units of affordable housing.
Since its inception in 2000, American Communities has financed and developed a total of 10 housing tax credit communities totaling 587 units valued in excess of $150 million. All of these developments utilized some combination of housing tax credits, tax exempt bond financing, HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), the Affordable Housing Program (AHP), Los Angeles Affordable Housing Trust Funds (HTF), Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Funds or tax increment financing, and City of Industry Funds.
American Communities is an active member of the California Housing Consortium and the California Council for Affordable Housing.
Our Team
Mark Walther Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Walther acted in various capacities with NAPICO, the nation’s ninth largest owner of apartment units. Mr. Walther's last positions there included Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel, and President of its affiliate, National Partnership Equities, Inc. ("NPEI"). In these capacities, Mr. Walther, a licensed attorney and securities principal, was responsible for all legal aspects of NPEI and 30 investor funds sponsored by the firm. Mr. Walther received his Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Law, where he was a member of the U.C. Davis Law Review. Mr. Walther is a licensed General Contractor in the State of California and oversees operations of the Company affiliated general contractor, American Community Home Builders, Inc. Mr. Walther is also a former board member of Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust which sponsors inner city parks throughout Los Angeles.
Frank Fonseca Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Fonseca gained over 25 years of extensive experience in all aspects of real estate including commercial and conventional multi-family development, site and property acquisitions, asset management, accounting and financial reporting. Mr. Fonseca is responsible for all aspects of American Communities’ development activities including due diligence reviews, financial structuring of development projects, equity and lender closings and financial oversight for the Company’s operations.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Fonseca was a Senior Executive with NAPICO, one of the nation’s largest owners of multi-family developments, where he supervised the acquisitions of tax credit developments and the asset management of over 35,000 multi-family apartment units throughout the country. From 1981 until 1995, Mr. Fonseca was a senior manager with an international consulting and accounting firm providing accounting and advisory services to companies specializing in the acquisition, development, construction and property management of commercial office buildings and conventional and affordable housing developments. Mr. Fonseca is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from California Statue University, Dominguez Hills.
Cynthia Michels has been involved with the development of American Communities since its inception. Prior to joining American Communities, Ms. Michels gained valuable real estate experience in her role as Vice President at two national syndicators of affordable housing, first at Alliant Capital and then at NAPICO. In such capacities, Ms. Michels was responsible for various aspects of the acquisition and development of affordable housing properties for sponsored funds. Ms. Michels now supervises the legal and due diligence aspects of all American Communities acquisitions including land use planning, financing applications, loan closings and equity syndications. Ms. Michels is also principally responsible for managing community and governmental relations. Ms. Michels has extensive legal experience having previously worked at the Los Angeles law firm of Resch Polster Alpert and Berger. Prior to that time, she was employed in the Washington, D.C. area by the law firms of Copilevitz & Canter and Chadwick Washington Olters Moriarty & Lynn. Ms. Michels is magna cum laude graduate of Minnesota State University and a member of the California Council for Affordable Housing.
Sanjay Chand is primarily responsible for the overall financial operations of American Communities and its affiliated companies. Before joining the firm, Mr. Chand worked for five years at a Beverly Hills real estate development company as the Chief Financial Officer. Prior to this he was the controller for a large private REIT. Overall, Mr. Chand brings twenty years of experience in real estate development and property management. Mr. Chand has extensive experience performing financial and feasibility modeling for new property acquisitions, debt/equity structuring, asset management, property as well as construction cost budgeting and forecasting. He has a thorough understanding of conventional as well as affordable housing property operations. Mr. Chand has a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from San Diego State University.
Mary Danford is the Operations Manager of American Communities. Ms. Danford is responsible for coordinating all construction related matters as well as overseeing all subcontractor contracts, documents and invoicing. Ms. Danford is also highly involved in the preparation of all financing applications for the various leveraging sources. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Danford served as project coordinator for NAPICO where she assisted in the Acquisitions Department’s due diligence process, maintained the department’s property database, records and closing documents. She also assisted various developers in completing their tax credit applications for the states of Texas, Georgia and Missouri. Ms. Danford received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
Adrienne Brauchle is the Project Manager for American Communities. Her responsibilities include asset management, review of property operations, assisting in all due diligence matters pertaining to lender and syndication closing and overseeing the compilation and submission of construction loan draws. Ms. Brauchle is also highly involved in the preparation of all financing applications for the various leveraging sources. She is also primarily responsible for the day to day management of the office, and all administrative aspects of American Communities. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Brauchle worked for Crystal Cruises, Inc. in the Marine Operations Department and for NAPICO in the Acquisitions Department. At NAPICO, Ms. Brauchle assisted in the due diligence process, reviewed partnership documents for funding requests, and prepared presentations for corporate investors. Ms. Brauchle attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a Provisional Member of the Junior League of Los Angeles and currently volunteers with Reading to Kids, an organization dedicated to children in low- income neighborhoods.
Brett Ryan Nelson is the Financial Analyst for American Communities. His responsibilities are primarily
focused on acquisitions, project structuring, review of various program regulations and underwriting
requirements, and evaluation of profitability and viability for future developments. Prior to joining the
company, Mr. Nelson interned in real estate finance with Sean Perkin and Associates, where his duties
included underwriting and modeling multifamily residential apartments, site inspections and valuations,
and drafting letters of intent and other acquisition related documents. Mr. Nelson also interned with
Credit Capital LLC, which involved the preparation of preliminary syndication and acquisition models
for tax credit properties, compilation of investment presentations and due diligence materials, as well
as asset management and maintaining a database for over 60 properties. Mr. Nelson graduated from
Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor Business Administration degree in Real Estate Finance
and a minor in Economics.Memberships
We are members of California Housing Consortium and the California Council for Affordable Housing.
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