NEWPORT BEACH, CA—“The industry of affordablehousing has faced some headwinds ever since the demise ofthe redevelopment agencies of California,” theRichman Group of California Development Co.'s EVPRick Westberg tells GlobeSt.com exclusively. As we reported recently, the firm has appointedWestberg to spearhead the company's expansion of affordable andmixed-income housing from its new Newport Beachoffice. We spoke with him about his new role and issues involvedwith investing in and developingaffordable-housing projects in Orange County.

GlobeSt.com: What are your goals in your new role atthe company?

Westberg: The Richman Group is uniquein that we build affordable and market-rate housing, as well asmixed-income housing. The company, which is one of the nation's 10largest residential property owners, has 15regional offices and operations in 49 states. In California, wehave established a pipeline of urban-infillmixed-use housing developments, which will requireoversight and execution, but I'm really focused intently onbuilding the affordable-housing component of our business inCalifornia. The Richman Group has a long history of building andfinancing affordable, and my goal is to identifyopportunities in California to further develop this basic corecompetency.