Portland, Maine – Members of the Maine Real Estate & Development Association, the state’s leading organization for commercial real estate professionals, are closely watching Governor LePage’s recent nomination of John Gallagher to serve as the Director of the Maine State Housing Authority.
"John is a great choice to lead the Housing Authority. He has seen this industry from all sides, working in both the public and private spheres, and will bring some new ideas to the table," said MEREDA’s president, Drew Sigfridson, Principal/ Designated Broker of CBRE | The Boulos Company.
"Regardless of your opinion of the previous direction of the Housing Authority, it was
pretty clear that political disagreements were distracting the Authority from its mission.
John is someone who can focus the Authority on its goals. This is an important time for the
Authority to be firing on all cylinders as the long economic recovery continues to hamper
the housing industry," said Thomas N. Lea, Senior Vice President and Maine Region
Manager of Commercial Real Estate Finance at People’s United Bank, and past president of
MEREDA.
"MEREDA has always had an excellent relationship with the Maine State Housing Authority
and we expect that to continue under John’s leadership," explained MEREDA member,
William Shanahan, President of Northern New England Housing Investment Fund.
Gallagher’s nomination will be considered by the Labor, Commerce, Research and
Economic Development Committee during the first week of September and will proceed to
a vote on the Senate floor on September 6th.
