Changemaker: Walter Kane

Walter C. Kane was pivotal to CHFA’s early success and built its strong foundation as its first Executive Director appointed to establish and lead the newly created organization.

CHFA was created by the Colorado General Assembly to address the shortage of affordable housing in the state. The enabling legislation, signed by then-Governor Richard Lamm in 1973, set bonding authority and provided seed money for CHFA’s establishment.

CHFA’s first Board of Directors was appointed and confirmed by the Senate in February 1974. At the time, the Board consisted of nine members: the State Auditor, a member of the Colorado General Assembly, and seven professionals appointed by the Governor who represented the fields of mortgage banking, architecture, city/regional planning, and real estate transactions. Among the Board’s first tasks was recruiting an Executive Director to implement the startup of CHFA’s operations.

In CHFA’s first annual report in 1974, Board Chair Charles Henning penned a letter to Governor Lamm describing the recruitment process for the Executive Director role. “Many qualified applicants were interviewed,” Charles wrote, “and several discussions were held with representatives of other state housing finance agencies in order to formulate the basic direction we wished to pursue.”

After a comprehensive search, Walter was appointed Executive Director in July 1974. Walter was a dedicated public servant who had served as a City Manager in municipalities across four states, including the cities of Lakewood and Loveland in Colorado. A Missouri native and Marine veteran, Walter described his excitement about his new role and the responsibility of leading the new Authority. “The opportunity to start a new company or a new agency is always a challenge to an administrator,” he said in CHFA’s 1974 Community Report. “To me, working with the Colorado Housing Finance Authority meant a chance to work in another field of public administration and also to be of service to the entire state of Colorado.” Charles noted the hard work that Walter undertook in his first few months as CHFA’s Executive Director. “[He] began the tedious process of establishing an office; staffing; preparing the necessary budget and accounting procedures; and developing an initial funding program,” he wrote.

Walter located office space in the Grant Street Mansion in Denver—a historic property near the Colorado State Capitol. He recruited four staff members, among them David Herlinger, hired as CHFA’s Director of Housing Operations, and Jim Roberts, Director of Legal Operations and Research. Together the new staff developed a work plan supporting CHFA’s mission of financing housing for low- and moderate-income Coloradans.

The first program undertaken by CHFA under Walter’s leadership provided construction financing for seven housing developments located across Denver, Loveland, Arvada, and Fort Morgan. CHFA issued $11,550,000 in loans supporting the construction of 649 total units.

Walter acknowledged the complexities of financing affordable housing in a new and challenging environment. “We must approach the development of new programs...in a very deliberate manner [due to] changing conditions in our national economy, the money market, and a new approach to subsidized housing by the federal government,” he wrote.

In 1975, under additional legislative authority, Walter led CHFA in establishing homeownership programs, offering loans through mortgage purchase programs to provide opportunities to low- and moderate-income families.

David Herlinger applauded CHFA’s efforts under Walter’s leadership in CHFA’s beginnings. “The first years were exciting and frustrating,” David noted in a later Annual Report, “but they were, above all, productive. The productivity was due to the solid base established by the Board of Directors and Walter Kane.”

By 1976, CHFA’s programs were so successful that Walter was able to authorize repayment of the $200,000 in seed funding provided by the legislature for CHFA’s establishment. Though not required by statute, CHFA’s leadership was committed to repayment to realize its achievements at no cost to Colorado taxpayers.

Walter continued program implementation and long-range planning for CHFA through 1976. In early 1977, Walter resigned his position as Executive Director and the Board named David Herlinger to lead CHFA in his place. “I know full well that replacing Walter Kane is both a personal honor and a professional challenge,” David said of his predecessor. “The success of the Authority to date is largely attributable to his leadership and superb managerial skills.”

Walter recognized the crucial role of affordable housing for Coloradans and was dedicated to building the foundation for CHFA’s work with its customers at the forefront. He described CHFA’s commitment to addressing affordable housing in the 1974 Community Report writing, “our staff is dedicated to ensuring the flow of capital into the housing market to assist in providing for one of man’s most basic necessities—a decent place to live.”