Staff

Luisa Rijo is Vice President/Area Manager at Phipps Houses where she oversees a diverse portfolio in the Bronx. With over 15 years of experience in affordable housing, Luisa has developed a solutions-driven leadership style that focuses on advancing affordable housing strategies, optimizing financial performance and enhancing the resident experience. Her work is driven by seeing the positive impact that quality affordable housing has on individuals and their communities. Luisa remains dedicated to ensuring access to safe and affordable homes that has a positive impact where residents can thrive.   

Luisa received her Bachelor’s in Human Services from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Science in Management from New England College. She is currently a member of the Stamford Board of Realtors and holds a Connecticut real estate license and low-income tax credit certification from Quadel.  

Teresa Palmieri has served as Vice President of Marketing at Phipps Houses since joining the company in 2023, where she oversees the leasing and marketing of new developments, and affordable housing lotteries. Teresa brings over a decade of affordable housing experience, working for both private and not for profit housing developers in New York City.  Prior to joining Phipps Houses, Teresa was Vice President of Affordable Leasing and Compliance at Clinton Management.

Marcus C Johnson serves as Vice President, Director of Purchasing at Phipps Houses. He joined the organization in 2007 as a buyer. He’s an innovative purchasing professional, also registered in Apartment Management with a high level of integrity and has over twenty-five years of experience. In 2007, he was promoted to Director of Purchasing and then in 2010 to Assistant Vice President, Director of Purchasing. He has proven abilities and expertise in managing personnel and contractors/vendors, tracking and analyzing data, ensuring appropriate follow-up and timely completion of requests for goods and services within Phipps’ portfolio. He’s an expert in minimizing and mitigating risk, specifically supply chain risk.  

Prior to joining Phipps Houses Services Inc. Marcus was Director of Contracts, Purchasing and Inventory at Riverbay Corporation formerly known as Co-Op City which consists of 15,372 residential units in 35 high-rise buildings and seven townhouse clusters consisting of garden and duplex apartments. He was responsible for all contracts relating to goods and services in excess of 50 million dollars.  He was also a member of their Inventory Committee. 

Prior to working at Riverbay Corporation, Marcus worked for Mario Scott Real East as a Purchasing/Inventory clerk for all goods and services for Rochdale Village. 

He’s a dedicated father and enjoys exercising, reading, researching and spending time with family members.    

Gennadiy Trakhtman is the Vice President and Director of IT at Phipps. He has worked for the organization for over a decade and has had the opportunity to grow within his career. Throughout his tenure at Phipps, he has enjoyed sharing his expertise with his colleagues while continuing to learn and expand his knowledge in the ever-changing field of Information Technologies.  

As Gennadiy continues his time at Phipps, he finds great joy in supporting and providing technical solutions to hundreds of employees and clients. Though his role has changed to a more managerial position, he still has the opportunity to be challenged and be part of an “idea” with the goal of helping Phipps expand and broaden its mission to not just provide affordable housing but also continue to build thriving communities.  

Gennadiy has a BA in Computer Science from Hunter College and an MA in Computer Science from Brooklyn College. 

Michael Wadman is Vice President of Real Estate Development at Phipps Houses.  Since joining Phipps, Michael has closed development projects totaling almost 4,000 units of affordable housing and has almost 2,000 units in his pipeline.  Prior to joining Phipps, Michael held positions managing affordable housing development at the Hudson Companies Inc., where he secured site control for a pipeline of over 2,200 affordable housing units, and as the Senior Vice President of the New York State Housing Finance Agency where he originated over $3.35 billion of bonds and mortgages to finance affordable housing throughout New York State. 

J. Steven Lovci joined Phipps Houses in September 2022 as Vice President of Capital Projects and Construction.  Steven is responsible for ensuring that Phipps Houses’ core values and vision are manifested in its building projects and capital renovations.  The Capital Projects and Construction Department supports new projects from inception through implementation and turnover and reinvestment in existing buildings to ensure quality, sustainability, durability, and longevity of Phipps’ portfolio. 

Steven manages and oversees predesign and preconstruction services, development of Phipps’ standards, energy and sustainability programs, construction project management, construction quality assurance and capital projects.  

Prior to Phipps Houses, he served as Executive Vice President of Capital Projects Division of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) from 2019 to 2022, administering the Authority’s Capital 5-year plan and 10-year outlook, advancing the Authority’s Capital programs, recovery and resilience program and the agency’s energy and sustainability programs totaling over $6 billion.  During his tenure, Steven directed NYCHA’s first Design-Build program, consisting of 19 Design-Build projects and totaling $4 million, NYCHA’s sustainability agenda, and leveraging the funding for NYCHA’s first fully electrified building conversion and the largest residential heat-pump conversion in the North-East.  Steven oversaw the development and publication of Connected Communities Guidebook, a community-centered urban design and engagement handbook, the recipient of the 2020 Wellbeing Cities award; NYCHA’s first stakeholder engagement standard procedure; NYCHA’s first open space master plans for over 133 individual developments; and NYCHA’s first Comprehensive Modernization white paper and planning of two comprehensive modernization projects.   

Prior to NYCHA, he was an Associate at the preservation firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners for over a decade and taught Building Construction at the New York Institute of Technology.   

Steven has a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Nebraska and a Bachelor of Architecture from City College, City University of New York, where he was a recipient of the AIA Henry Adams Medal.  He is a Licensed Architect in the state of New York and a Registered Architect in the State of Israel.  In 2022, he was inducted into the National Academy of Construction. 

Kelly Biscuso is a Vice President of Real Estate Development at Phipps Houses, where he is responsible for overseeing the development of numerous new construction projects in the Phipps pipeline. He also participates in the acquisition and rezoning of new sites, supervises a set of projects under construction, and takes existing properties through the LIHTC year 15 process. Prior to joining Phipps, Kelly was the Director of Real Estate Development for RiseBoro Community Partnership, where he managed the firm’s development team and oversaw a pipeline of over 5,800 units. Prior to working in development, Kelly worked in community development finance, as a Vice President at TD Bank and as a LIHTC underwriter at Enterprise Community Investment.

Kelly received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the Ohio State University and a Master of Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins University. Between his studies he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa, where he spearheaded the creation of a community radio station that continues to serve over 50,000 people.