About Us

Urban Ventures team members all have a great deal of affordable housing development experience - most have been working in this field for over 25 years. With a range of expertise from supportive housing to federal housing program compliance, underwriting to development consulting for affordable housing developers, our team brings a wide ranging creative problem solving experience to our clients. Urban Ventures, Inc. is a DC Certified Business Enterprise.

Stuart S. Hershey, President As founder and President of Urban Ventures, Stu Hershey is responsible for overall organizational management, including oversight of all contracts.  In his 30+ year history consulting for non-profit and public sector affordable housing developers and lenders, Stu has focused on complex real estate transactions with multiple funding layers.  Stu also provides technical assistance on the design and implementation of programs for compliance with HOME, CDBG, & NSP regulations.  Stu was a founding board member of the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF).

Anne Boynton, Senior Project Manager Anne Boynton brings almost three decades of underwriting and development consulting experience to the team.  Anne assists lenders and developers to structure successful transactions involving layered financing, including RAD transactions.  Anne also provides technical assistance on underwriting issues to enhance clients’ internal capacity for sophisticated underwriting.  Anne has a special focus on developing supportive housing for populations with special needs, including chronically homeless, and public policy which effectively prioritizes resources to high need populations.  

Michael L. Kofski, Technology Specialist Mike brings exceptional attention to detail to complex budgets and intricate spreadsheet design, and has a background in statistical analysis.   Mike builds analytic tools for lenders and non-profit housing managers, and provides trainings on use of technology in underwriting.  Mike has been a member of the Urban Ventures team since 2006.  Prior to joining Urban Ventures, he worked as a bookkeeper and corporate consultant.  Outside of work, Mike enjoys rock climbing.

Martha Davis, Senior Project Manager Martha Davis has almost 30 years of development expertise, ranging from single family homeownership to complex multifamily projects to non-profit facilities.  Martha’s technical assistance focuses on effective and compliant program design and operation for public entities, including production of staff manuals and staff training.  Martha serves as a member of the Urban Ventures underwriting team, with a special focus on affordable homeownership models, including limited equity cooperatives and affordable condominiums.  With Urban Ventures since 2010, previously Martha worked with several Washington DC non-profit housing developers.