PAHC Press Corner

Prendergast to leave Housing Corporation - Fifteen years and 329 affordable housing units later, executive director steps down

PALO ALTO ONLINE - Publication Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2008
by Veronica Sudekum

In April, Marlene Prendergast will depart the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, the private, nonprofit agency established by the Palo Alto City Council in 1970 to develop and foster affordable housing. Prendergast has been the executive director since 1992.

"I've done this now for 15 years. ... I feel like it's time for some new thoughts and new blood in going forward," Prendergast said.

This is an appropriate time for change for her and the organization, she added.

"The Housing Corp. has served the city well for many years, and I'm hoping it will continue to do so. I'm sure it will," she said.

During her 15-year tenure, Prendergast has supervised housing development, property management, the Below Market Rate program administration and resident services.

Under her leadership, the nonprofit added 329 units of affordable housing in Palo Alto, according to a press release. The group's staff also grew from four to 37, with the increase primarily in affordable-housing property management.

"I've been more successful than I thought I would be in building a wonderful organization and a wonderful staff," she said.

Prendergast takes special pride in the construction of two award-winning affordable housing projects — Alma Place, whose "dignified affordable design" won the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County's Prometheus Prize for Architectural Excellence in Affordable Housing Design, and Oak Court Apartments, whose Craftsman detailing, patios and balconies merited the Premier Building Show and Building Magazine's award for the Attached Residential Project of the Year.

Additionally, Prendergast guided the Housing Corporation's transition from contracting out the management of its properties in the 1970s and 1980s to managing the properties in-house.

As a nonprofit developer, it has a "different attitude" in managing its properties than many for-profit businesses, Prendergast said, indicating the change has benefited residents. The housing group's purpose in managing its properties is "providing [residents] a stable place to live and assisting them to have a better way of life," she said.

Prendergast graduated magna cum laude from the University of Santa Clara School of Law in 1979. She served from 1978 to 1979 as editor-in-chief of the "Santa Clara Law Review." A member of the California State Bar Association, Prendergast went on to work briefly at the Palo Alto office of Ware, Fletcher & Freidenrich. She then spent seven years as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Palo Alto and then as a Senior Assistant City Attorney in land use and environmental law. From 1987 to 1992, she was Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Mateo, working on land and environmental issues, before accepting the position of executive director of the Housing Corporation.

Her community involvement includes service on the boards of the League of Women Voters, Association for Senior Day Health, YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula, the Children's Health Council, the Peninsula Conservation Center and its Trust Fund, the Palo Alto Housing PAHC, the Palo Alto Centennial, Leadership Palo Alto and Family Service Mid-Peninsula.

In recognition of her participation in the Palo Alto community, the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce bestowed her in 1999 with the Athena Award for professional excellence and dedication to the community. In 2003, Leadership Mid-Peninsula awarded her an Excellence in Leadership Award.

One year later, the Palo Alto Housing Corporation received the Tall Tree Award for Outstanding Nonprofit Organization, presented by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce.

Candice Gonzalez will take over as executive director of the Housing Corporation in April. Gonzalez — an attorney like Prendergast — graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law a decade ago. She has experience assisting low-to-moderate income buyers in real-estate financing transactions, contract negotiations and the purchase of Below Market Rate homes. In addition to being sole proprietor of her law office in Daly City, Gonzalez currently is both owner and mortgage broker for a real-estate company active in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas.

Page 404