William Sexauer Career Background
What is your biggest career achievement?
- As the Acquisitions Associate for Lawson, my core focus is to fill the development pipeline with ground-up affordable housing projects. The first step involves sourcing opportunities and then conducting due diligence on these opportunities through detailed market research including analysis of land sales, comparable properties, demographic trends and profiles, as well as cost to construct and operate an asset in the given area. Second, I perform financial underwriting to determine feasibility of ground up construction projects and to project economic return over the hold period. Finally, I manage & conduct the deal approval process of our internal investment committee with Lawson partners. In total, I have sourced new development opportunities with a total development value of over $180M throughout the State of Virginia, the end result of which will be the creation of nearly 800 affordable apartments for working class Virginians.
My proudest achievement to date is an opportunity I found in Lynchburg, a market Lawson had not previously considered. With limited experience in western Virginia, I was able to provide a clear accounting of why Lynchburg was a strong market with an obvious need for affordable housing. Through this process, I was able to gain extensive knowledge of the Lynchburg market, obtain partnership approval to purchase the site, and ultimately expand Lawson’s presence in the State of Virginia. Once we were under contract, I assisted in the procurement of 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits which were utilized to finance the development.
Given the nature of real estate development, the timeline from project inception to construction completion can be several years. The assumptions made throughout each stage of the feasibility process described above are relied upon by our partners to make investment decisions that will be proved right or wrong years in the future. During my last site visit, the project was approximately 50% complete, which has significantly changed my perspective on how these investments become construction sites, residential buildings, and ultimately homes for hundreds of families. The process from project inception to families moving in requires an entire team aligned on the same goals, and having the opportunity to determine where we will create those homes is extremely gratifying. Given our position as long-term holders, the impact ripples far into the future, as the community will remain affordable for at least 30 years, creating the opportunity for upward mobility across multiple generations.
Given your past experiences, what event/ project or moment would you revisit and how would you go about it differently based on your current frame of mind?
- My educational background in real estate finance greatly influenced my perspective of development when joining Lawson. In the classroom, we learned how to underwrite real estate investments, analyzing what the market required in terms of unit sizes, site suitability, amenities provided, etc. to achieve maximum rent levels. Our focus was entirely on returns – Is the benefit worth the additional cost? The ability to accurately project the financial performance of a prospective development is essential to ensuring success of the project. While delivering returns to investors is certainly important, given they allow a company to grow and continue developing future properties, my time at Lawson has increasingly directed my focus towards people in addition to the numbers.
Lawson’s vertically integrated structure (handling development, construction, property management and asset management) has exposed me to all aspects of affordable housing. In doing so, I realized the “units” I model at the onset of a project will become homes for families to live and grow. I have learned that the way a property is designed, the amenities included, and the resident services provided will contribute to establishing a sense of community. I was hesitant to adopt this mindset at first, knowing that every additional feature adds costs to the project. At the time, I viewed this as hindering the financial performance of the “investment.”
As long-term holders of the communities we develop, I quickly learned my perspective was very short-sighted. Intentionality in project design to create homes instead of “units” and communities instead of “investments” directly contributes to the long-term success of the project by creating a place where people are excited to live. Since this realization, I make a point to meet with our construction and property management teams at the onset of a potential project to determine what can be incorporated to ensure we are designing a community that will maintain the highest quality and best serve the future residents for the next 30+ years.
From your perspective, what is the industry lacking to support the modern renter and how do you plan to help supply that need?
- Developing affordable housing is essential to building strong, equitable communities. Access to safe, quality, affordable housing is essential to increasing access to opportunities and promoting upward mobility. While the creation of housing itself is a key first step, the industry would be able to amplify its impact by incorporating resident services, specifically to benefit our most vulnerable populations.
To that end, we provide a leasing preference for supportive housing units on many new developments. In general, supportive housing services will be available to no less than 10% of each project's total unit count. The target population for supportive housing services are those suffering chronic homelessness, intellectual disability, developmental disability, or severe mental illness. Again, access to quality housing is only the first step, which is why we have partnered with a non-profit to provide essential services to the target population. This partner will provide case management and service coordination, linking residents to community-based services and medical care. They provide new tenant orientation and move-in assistance, educational opportunities, employment services, crisis intervention, access to support groups, life skills education, conflict resolution & mediation, harm reduction services, daily living skills assistance, entitlement programs assistance, food and nutritional guidance, and tenant's rights education. As part of the team that worked to select and establish a relationship with a service provider, I was able to see how our new partner has helped thousands of people through their dedicated service. I am excited about our partnership and believe we will be able to impact countless lives together in the future.
Moving forward, I would like to build upon this first step and incorporate additional resident services into the designs of our project. Services that I have been exploring include coordination with local hospitals to provide free telehealth services to residents, conducting workforce training classes, and providing on-site childcare. Our mission at Lawson is to positively impact people and enhancing resident services at our properties has the potential to dramatically increase our positive impact. I look forward to building on our current success to continue learning and improving how we can develop properties that best meet the needs of the communities we serve.