A Farewell to Froehlich
Smith's Cadre of Affordable Housing Finance is sad to announce the passing of Richard Froehlich. He was 57 years of age and died on Friday, September 24, 2021. "Rich was a good friend, a true champion of civil rights, and a leader of affordable housing," according to Terence M. Smith, Chairman of Smith's Research & Gradings. He added, "Rich passed away almost six months after the death of his beloved husband, Joseph. I believe he died from a broken heart."
Mr. Froehlich was First Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and all of its subsidiaries. HDC is a New York public benefit corporation dedicated to financing affordable housing in New York City. Mr. Froehlich joined HDC as its General Counsel in 2003 and was consistently promoted within the Corporation's legal department as well as its bond and finance departments. He has been a primary coordinator of HDC's award-winning preservation efforts that have led to the continued affordability of approximately 100,000 units of low- and middle-income housing in New York City. He has also been a leader in designing and implementing HDC's participation in Mayor Bill De Blasio's Housing New York plan to build and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing in New York City. Mr. Froehlich was elected as a member of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board for a three-year term beginning October 1, 2014.
He is also an active lecturer on affordable housing and bond finance. Mr. Froehlich spoke at Smith's Affordable Housing Finance Conferences, particularly on the subject of multi-family housing.
In 2012, Mr. Froehlich received the industry's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at Smith's Affordable Housing Finance Conference.
Mr. Froehlich was also an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and taught two courses on affordable housing finance and public finance, respectively.
Prior to joining HDC, Mr. Froehlich was Counsel at O'Melveny & Myers LLP in its New York City office, where his practice focused on real estate and public finance with a particular emphasis on affordable housing. He also was an Assistant Counsel at the New York State Housing Finance Agency. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia University School of Law.
