Ivy Dench
Senior Vice President, Community Revitalization & Public Partnerships
As Senior Vice President of Community Revitalization & Public Partnerships, Ivy Dench leads Pennrose’s efforts to strengthen communities through equitable development, strategic public-sector collaboration, and mission-driven revitalization initiatives. In this role, she develops and executes a comprehensive strategy to advance Pennrose’s long-term goals for community investment, while championing innovative public-private partnerships that expand opportunity and improve quality of life for residents. Ivy oversees the cultivation of relationships with federal, state, and local government agencies and works to secure critical public funding to support transformational projects across Pennrose’s portfolio. She directs cross-functional teams focused on delivering impactful community development outcomes, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements, community priorities, and organizational objectives.
Ivy has more than 30 years of management and real estate development experience. She began with Pennrose Management Company in 1990 as a Property Manager for two properties before earning a promotion to Regional Property Manager, which gave her oversight of 21 affordable housing properties. In 1995, Ivy joined the development arm of Pennrose, expanding her career from property management to real estate development in the affordable housing arena.
Ivy previously led the Pennrose Baltimore Regional office (Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia and U.S. Virgin Islands) where she oversaw all phases of development process, from sourcing deals to securing financing to overseeing the transition from construction to management. Under her supervision, she was proud to lead an exceptional staff who are responsible for the day-to-day project management and development activities. One of her many strengths is the ability to support her staff to successfully manage large teams to maintain the project the schedule and keep costs within budget. However, she continues to enjoy meeting with public housing residents and community stakeholders to alleviate their fears of redevelopment and providing them the opportunities for Section 3 and MBE/WBE participation during a transparent development process.
Ivy began her career in property management giving her a unique perspective during the development process. Her experience ranges from stand-alone affordable housing development deals to complex mixed-income, mixed finance, and multi-phase redevelopment projects including, HOPE VI, RAD, Upfront Grant and CHOICE programs. As a result, these programs require the complicated, multi-layered financing structures and the ability to secure soft resources required for 9% and 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit transactions. While most of her career has been redevelopment of public housing, her office is also focused on mixed-income, mixed-use and market rate developments.
Throughout her career, Ivy has developed over thirty-five projects totaling approximately 2,400 units. Many of these projects involved public housing authorities and government agency owned land requiring the negotiation of complex Land Disposition Agreements and Master Development Agreements.
Ivy is the former president of the Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition and currently serves on the board of The Reinvestment Fund. She is a graduate of Leadership Maryland and was named a 2019 Leaders in Diversity honoree by Baltimore Business Journal, an award that celebrates executives who promote diversity and inclusiveness in the regional business community. Ivy attended Spelman College in Atlanta, GA.