Feliciano Vera Brings Experience and Vision as VP of Real Estate Finance — Community Housing Opportunities Corporation

“We have decades of institutional experience built into this organization,” says Feliciano Vera. As the Vice President of Real Estate Finance, Vera is setting the course ahead for Community Housing Opportunities Corporation's growth as one of California's leading affordable housing developers. “My job is to make sure we're actually using that experience — drawing on it so we can move faster to get solutions into the communities we serve.”

At CHOC, Vera is playing a key role at a moment when affordable housing is both urgently needed and increasingly difficult to deliver. Leading CHOC’s real estate finance strategy, Feliciano is structuring capital solutions that scale affordable housing across California. As the state and the nation as a whole continue to face a housing shortage, CHOC is moving forward, turning initial concepts into affordable housing communities where working families thrive.

Here’s exactly how.

A Career Shaped by Housing and Transportation

With decades of experience in development, capital strategy, and community-centered investment, Vera is pushing forward affordable housing development, even amid the current challenges California faces. He has delivered more than 700 units and $500 million in construction valuation throughout his career, guiding projects through full-cycle delivery.

Vera’s path into development began long before his first real estate project. Growing up in Phoenix, he came to understand how transportation, land use, and housing shape whether people can reach school, work, and opportunities.

Pheonix, AZ sprawled landscape of industry, housing, transportation

“My curiosity about real estate development distilled down to one question: how do we make it as easy as possible for the least well-off in our communities to access opportunity?”

Housing and transportation are inextricably linked to access to opportunity, Feliciano adds. It’s a reality he lived firsthand as a child. His father was a firefighter, and his mother worked as an account clerk. On the days his father was on shift, he and his younger brother walked seven blocks to the bus stop and took the city bus home from school, often in scorching hot weather.

Growing up on the “wrong side of the river,” as he describes it, meant that his community was surrounded by industrial buildings, hazardous waste facilities, and limited access to opportunity.

Those memories never left him. It’s shaped every element of his work today and his enduring passion for achieving equity in real estate development and affordable housing.

Why Affordable Housing Matters Now

Currently, the U.S. has a shortage of more than 4.7 million homes, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 “State of Housing in America” report. Furthermore, nearly half of all renter households are cost-burdened, underscoring the pressure on families Feliciano describes.

In California especially, there are only 25 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. This widening gap between median rent and household income makes affordability even harder for families who are working full-time, or juggling one, two, or three part-time jobs at once.

"We have families in California who are severely housing burdened, paying more than 50% of their income just on housing," says Vera. With the added cost of transportation to get to and from school and/or work, families are paying even more out of pocket.

The combined housing and transportation cost burden for some families is more than 75% of their take-home pay," Vera says. "That's ridiculous. That's not a way to live.”

Why CHOC Is Positioned to Move Forward

What sets CHOC apart is the organization’s existing foundation. With deep experience in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit financing and a development history across California communities, CHOC has built the technical knowledge required to navigate one of the most complex areas of real estate.

“We've been through tough times and managed to honor our commitments to the communities we serve — even when it was sometimes challenging for the organization,” says Vera.

Previously President of the California Region at Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), Feliciano built statewide partnerships and deployed capital to expand opportunities for underserved communities. His experience strengthens CHOC’s mission-driven financing and cross-sector collaboration today.

CHOC’s Monarch Apartment Homes, Palm Springs, CA. Photo by Noé Montes.

“Feliciano has been an invaluable part of CHOC's growth, and this promotion is a natural reflection of the leadership and vision he brings every day,” said Manuela Silva, CHOC CEO
“CHOC doesn’t let small bumps get in the way of big opportunities, and having Feliciano at the helm of our real estate finance strategy will help us expand our reach to serve more communities across California,” Manuela adds.

Building CHOC’s Next Chapter

For Feliciano, the work ahead is both technical and deeply human. Financing is the mechanism, but the end goal is much bigger: stable housing, integrated communities, and new ways for families to thrive.

“We're grounding everything we do in one relentless focus: making sure our residents' housing needs keep being met,” Vera says.

He’s currently working on CHOC’s capital formation and development strategies, including a five-year plan designed to build on CHOC’s existing strengths while exploring new ways to scale impact. The ultimate goal is to turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities for the California communities that CHOC serves.

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Founded in 1984, Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (CHOC) is a non-profit affordable housing developer, energy, services and property management provider headquartered in Fairfield, CA; we create and manage equitable communities for individuals, families, seniors, and those with special needs. CHOC believes that economically integrated affordable housing is key to self-sufficiency and achievable with enriching, supportive programs that instill pride in residents, stabilize families, and improve local economies. Visit CHOCHousing.org. Sign up for our monthly newsletter, The Circle.