Fred Bennett
Managing Partner
The Bennett Group

Fred is the founder of The Bennett Group, which develops and preserves housing in the Southeast. He also serves as consultant or co-developer with individuals, non-profit organizations and investors interested in developing and preserving affordable multi-family housing. Since 1967 he has had "hands on" experience in virtually every aspect of affordable housing production, financing and management. He has also developed, co-developed or invested in a variety of market rate properties since 1993.

In the 1960s he organized and directed self-help-housing programs in Florida and Alabama.

In the 1970s, he organized and directed training programs in the construction trades, and operated a non-profit construction company, which used government financing to build low cost single-family homes throughout Southeast Alabama.

In the 1980s he used the multi-family financing programs of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to develop apartment communities in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi for his own account and for investor partners. He also served first as Director of Acquisitions and then as CEO of First American Holdings, an equity investor in affordable housing nationwide.

In the period 1989-2004, he served as co-owner and principal of three vertically integrated companies: Charter Development Company, Charter Construction Company, and Charter Property Management Company. He was responsible for business planning and corporate administration.

In 2004, he sold his interest in The Charter Companies in order to focus fully on real estate development and consulting. Over the course of his career, he has worked with a wide variety of entities, developed or restored nearly 4,000 single-family houses and apartment homes.

Judy Van Dyke
Development Partner
The Bennett Group

Judy is an attorney specializing in affordable housing and related issues. She has served as counsel or special counsel to six public housing authorities and has represented for-profit developers of affordable housing.

In July 2004, she joined The Bennett Group and began working exclusively with its clients in the development and preservation of affordable housing. At The Bennett Group, she assists with site selection and negotiation, development budgets, community relations, deal structuring and due diligence with equity investors.

Our company and our clients benefit from her broad experience with real estate matters, construction and permanent loan closings, preparation of due diligence documents, organizational documents, operating and partnership agreements, evidentiary documentation and tax opinion letters, applying for and using Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME funds, credit enhanced bonds, CDBG Funds and FHLB AHP Grants.

Ann Marie Rowlett
Partner and Development Coordinator
The Bennett Group

Ann Marie works closely with clients and corporate officers to facilitate the entire development process, starting prior to construction and continuing through construction and permanent loan closings. Her responsibilities include arranging land surveys, soil and environmental testing, meeting local permitting requirements, preparing exhibits for loan and grant applications, maintaining compliance with various federal housing program regulations, and detailed communication with clients, attorneys, architects, lenders and equity investors. She maintains records and data to help clients make well-informed investment decisions. She has served in this capacity since July 2002.

Ann Marie has also worked as a legal secretary, preparing documents for corporate litigation cases, estate planning and trusts, probate cases and real estate transactions--both consumer and commercial. Her real estate work included preparation of settlement statements, title commitments and title insurance policies, deeds, mortgages, security instruments, and promissory notes.

In the period of 1990 to 2001, she worked with various banks in the Auburn-Opelika community. Her jobs have included: Head Teller/Operations Supervisor , managing the day-to-day activities of branch offices and overseeing a group of four tellers at Compass Bank; Customer Service Representative opening new accounts, certificates of deposit and IRA’s as well as customer relations at First National Bank of Opelika; and Lending Assistant at Colonial Bank.

Tara Massey
Assistant Development Coordinator
The Bennett Group

Tara provides a variety of support services for our staff and our partners. Her duties range from bookkeeping and human resources for The Bennett Group to assisting with various aspects of the development process. Her responsibilities include assisting with the preparation of tax credit applications, miscellaneous monthly and quarterly reporting during the construction phase, and due diligence collection for various loan closings. She is also responsible for accounts payable and receivable for various entities, as well as all human resources functions for The Bennett Group.

Prior to joining The Bennett Group in September, 2006, she held an administrative position with Lifegains, Inc., a Burlington, North Carolina not-for-profit foster care agency. She also operated a plumbing business with her husband for six years, and for the eleven years prior to that, handled a wide variety of administrative duties in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kelly Culpepper
Office Manager
The Bennett Group

In addition to greeting our clients on the phone and in person, Kelly heads our public, vendor and customer relations. She manages the day-to-day activities of the office, oversees correspondence, document scanning, filing and retrieval. She also provides a variety of support services for our staff and our partners.

Kelly is the newest member of the team. She recently graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Entrepreneurship and Family Business. Her work experience includes team and office management, national public speaking tours, and fundraising and support building for an international non-profit.