MBL was founded in 1989 by Austin Miller, Bill Breitbart and later joined by Tilman Lukas. The three principals sought to provide affordable housing consulting services to the wider community of Western Massachusetts. Miller, Breitbart and Lukas all had prior experience working at Way Finders, Inc., formerly known as HAPHousing, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing in Springfield, MA. Here, they recognized the increasing need to provide specific financial structuring of affordable housing to non-profit and for-profit developers in the region. Since its creation, MBL has contributed greatly to the development and preservation of affordable housing throughout the Commonwealth. We have been directly involved in the development of over 6,000 units of affordable housing, leveraging over $550 million in private and public funding sources.
Austin Miller served at a variety of non-profit housing corporations, preserving and producing affordable housing units for over two decades. Miller’s experience in affordable housing includes Executive Director at Hampshire Community Action Commission, as comptroller at HAPHousing, and as Director of Development at The Community Builders, before founding MBL in 1989. Miller specialized in planning, development, and debt and equity finance and operations. He received numerous professional awards for his outstanding community development efforts. Miller passed away in 2009 but will always be remembered for his generosity, wit, and heart.
William Breitbart specialized in the areas of housing and community development and became a principal of MBL in 1989. Before coming to MBL, Bill was the Executive Director at HAPHousing where he established and supervised a broad range of programs which provided decent and affordable housing for low and moderate income persons and individuals with special needs. He also has experience in legal services, having worked for the Western Massachusetts Legal Services as a staff and managing attorney. After leaving MBL, Bill led Western Massachusetts lending activities for the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC). Breitbart has served on the board of directors in many housing organizations including the Massachusetts Non-profit Housing Assoc. (Now The Regional Housing Network) and the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, Inc. Bill now enjoys semi-retirement while continuing to help improve community development initiatives in our region.
Tilman Lukas has extensive experience in project management, housing construction, affordable housing policy, and environmental regulation. Prior to MBL, Tilman served as Director of Development and Assistant Executive Director for Operations at the HAPHousing Inc. He was responsible for the administration of one of the largest Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Programs in the United States, various Department of Energy weatherization programs, homeownership programs, and the development of special needs housing. He joined at MBL in 1994. Tilman retired in 2016 but still continues to carry out his legacy by contributing to the company and is currently the Chair of the town of Pelham’s Housing Committee.
