Beacon Communities Names New CEO 

Dara Kovel succeeds Pam Goodman

Beacon Communities, a national leader in affordable and mixed-income housing development and management, has named Dara Kovel its new CEO. Kovel joined Beacon in 2015 as the President of Beacon Communities Development and succeeds Pam Goodman in a female-to-female leadership transition rare in the industry nationally. 

Goodman is retiring after over 20 years of helping to grow Beacon Communities into a large, nationally recognized and diversified multifamily owner/developer, recognized for quality work, its commitment to employees and residents, and for creating a culture of engagement. She will continue to consult with Beacon on a part-time basis. “Obviously, we have worked exceptionally hard to create a great company and I am confident that Dara will continue to focus and expand on what has made us successful.”

Kovel said she hopes to further Beacon’s signature approach to creating quality living environments with programs and services that enrich residents’ lives.  “Beacon has created an exceptional track record for improving the lives of residents through creation of quality housing and exceptional property management.  I am thrilled to be leading the company into its next era,” said Kovel.

Kovel, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, started her career in California with the non-profit Mercy Housing, led by Sisters of Mercy.  “At Mercy I developed my belief that housing is a human right, like food, health care and education,” Kovel said. “This is where the policy and resource conversation should start.”

Kovel came to Beacon from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, where she ran the multifamily and single-family lending and tax credit allocation divisions. She had returned to the East Coast to earn an MBA at Yale University, where she also earned her undergraduate degree in English. She also had worked for Jonathan Rose Companies, a New York real estate development and investment company. Kovel lives in Brookline, MA with her husband and 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son.

As President of Beacon’s development company, Kovel has been overseeing the management of major development projects including the recent phases of the redevelopment of Old Colony with the Boston Housing Authority, underway in South Boston, now known as Anne M. Lynch Homes at Old Colony; the rehabilitation of Quincy Tower in Boston; North Square, new construction on an old mill site in Amherst, Massachusetts; and Montgomery Mill, a historic rehabilitation in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Beacon Communities owns a total of 65 properties in Massachusetts with 8,767 units. In Connecticut, they have 7 properties with 814 units.  More information is available upon request.

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