In this episode of The Real Estate Shop, Steve and Curvin interview Catherine Buell, the Former Director of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund. In this podcast, she discusses the investment criteria, markets covered, and the intended social impact.

Catherine was responsible for long-term and innovative programs that address civic priorities in the communities where Amazon employees live and work. She helped launch and oversaw Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2 billion commitment to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable housing units in Washington State’s Puget Sound region; Arlington, Virginia region; and Nashville, Tennessee. Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund will help preserve existing housing and help create inclusive housing developments through below-market loans and grants to housing partners, traditional and non-traditional public agencies, and minority-led organizations.

Catherine previously served as the President and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority (d/b/a “Atlanta Housing” or “AH”) where she led the agency’s strategic, financial and operational efforts by providing housing to more than 23,000 of Atlanta’s low-and extremely low-income households. While at Atlanta Housing, Catherine led the development of the agency’s five year plan, called “Vision 2022” (Live, Work, Thrive), aimed at increasing the number of households served, increasing investments in family self-sufficiency efforts and agency fiscal responsibility. During her tenure, she advanced major real estate efforts including partnerships with the Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. to develop affordable housing near the popular BeltLine and also work with Invest Atlanta to purchase the 19-acre Civic Center site in downtown Atlanta. She also served as Vice President of Policy and Programs for the Greater Washington Partnership, a first-of-its-kind civic alliance of CEOs in the Washington D.C. region, where she focused on a range of issues include regional housing policy issues.

In this episode, Curvin and Steve meet with Ayris T. Scales the SVP of Social Responsibility and Global Initiatives for NAREIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trust).

NAREIT serves as the worldwide representative voice for REITs and real estate companies with an interest in U.S. real estate.

Scales has nearly 20 years of experience in economic and community development. Most recently, Scales was CEO of the Walker’s Legacy Foundation, which provides entrepreneurial, financial, and professional support to improve the economic equality and entrepreneurial prosperity of multicultural women. From 2018–2021, she was chief service officer for the District of Columbia under Mayor Muriel Bowser. In that role, she cultivated strategic partnerships with corporations, foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies to advance mayoral priorities and to create solutions to social challenges.

Steve and Curvin interview Leroy Moore, the Chief Operating Officer of the Tampa Bay Housing Authority to discuss their development pipeline and the latest developments that are happening in the downtown Tampa Bay, FL area.

About Leroy Moore:

Leroy Moore has worked in the real estate development arena since 1984 and currently holds the position of SVP/Chief Operating Officer with the Tampa Housing Authority. In this position, Mr. Moore oversees all aspects of the Authority’s Office of Operations and Real Estate Development including high profile projects such as HOPE VI Redevelopments, long range capital planning, leading the massive 12 city block mixed-use redevelopment project known as Encore, as well as strategic business planning and corporate vision management.

Prior to joining Tampa Housing Authority in May 1998, Mr. Moore operated his own consulting firm providing national training and professional organizational management and analysis to Public and Indian Housing Authorities throughout the United States. He has held Director level positions in a number of housing authorities including Memphis, Peoria, Oakland, and Atlanta; and in 1995 was selected to provide professional services to the Court appointed Receiver for the District of Columbia Housing Authority in Washington DC under contract with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is regularly called on to give speeches and presentations at local and national conferences and industry meetings.

Join Curvin and Steve as they have a candid conversation with Jacqueline West-Spencer Alexander about the vision for Prince George's County, and opportunities for Developers to partner with the Redevelopment Authority.

Jacqueline West-Spencer Alexander serves as the Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority of Prince George’s County. In this role, West-Spencer is responsible for facilitating the Redevelopment Authority of Prince George’s County objective to develop, redevelop, revitalize, and preserve communities with an emphasis on communities within the Beltway in support of the County’s priorities in community development, transit-oriented development, and affordable housing. With over 25 years of experience in real estate, affordable housing, community and economic development, West-Spencer’s expertise is in driving forward strategic initiatives, strengthening the efficacy of housing programs and operations, and implementing real estate development strategies for under‐served communities.

Gina Merritt is an award-winning, experienced real estate developer specializing in community development. She has been involved in over 7,500 units and currently has $600MM in the development pipeline in various parts of the country. Join us as we hear how Gina has built her career and her business.

In this episode, Curvin and Steve interview nationally acclaimed attorney and tax credit expert Ashley Wicks. Ashley has more than 15 years of experience in public finance and tax matters; she leverages her experience and knowledge as an attorney and CPA to bring creative solutions to a variety of public finance and tax matters, ultimately working to grow and improve the vibrant communities her clients serve. In her extensive practice, Ashley primarily focuses on new markets tax credits, governmental and 501(c)(3) bond financing transactions and state and local tax matters.

Listen in to her about Ashley's journey to becoming a Super Lawyer, and her breakdown of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program.

Milton R. Pratt, Jr. serves as Executive Vice President of Development for The Michaels Organization. In this role, he focuses on pipeline growth and asset performance through relationships with various governmental and industry groups and works closely with Michaels’ Regional Development teams to generate opportunities. Mr. Pratt is also involved in Michaels’ newest effort to catalyze affordable and workforce housing without the need for traditional public subsidies.

In his previous role as Senior Vice President of Development, Mr. Pratt and his team developed more than 2,500 units valued in excess of $375 million. His award-winning work on HOPE VI developments in New Orleans and Tampa, Florida are a showcase of transforming outdated and neglected public housing into sustainable, mixed-income communities.

Prior to joining The Michaels Organization in 2005, Mr. Pratt served as the Region III Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he was the Department’s principal liaison to Congressional members, mayors, city managers, state and local elected officials, and a wide cross section of HUD clients in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In this conversation with MIlt we gain access to the story behind the organizational development of The Michaels Organization, tips on working with local housing authorities, and the mission to provide attainable housing for renters.

In this podcast Mr. Lombard provides a snapshot of how he built his career and managed relationships to grow the enterprises that he was involved with.

In 2021 Kenneth Lombard was named President & CEO of BRIDGE Housing, a San Francisco, CA based nonprofit developer, owner and manager with a focus on California, Oregon and Washington. The organization was established in 1983 and currently owns and operates 126 properties (13,500 apartments).

Prior to BRIDGE, Mr. Lombard served as Executive Vice President and COO of Seritage Growth Properties. Prior to that he served as President of MacFarlane Partners, an investment management firm that acquires, develops and manages real estate assets on behalf of pensions and institutional investors. Before MacFarlane Partners, Mr. Lombard served as Vice Chairman, Partner and head of investments for Capri Capital Partners, and President of the Capri Urban Fund, which invested in more than $1 billion in commercial, residential and mixed-use development, redevelopment and repositioning projects in densely populated urban markets of the U.S.

From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Lombard was President of Starbucks Entertainment, where he managed the collaboration with Concord Music to form a new Starbucks music label. In 1992, Mr. Lombard co-founded Johnson Development Corporation and spent 12 years as the President and Partner of the firm, creating a legacy of economic improvement in underserved communities of color in 65 cities and 17 states. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Washington.

Listen in on this podcast as we take a journey through his career.