The Real Estate Shop: Recent Episodes
AreaProbe
We interview leading RealEstate Developers & Financiers to prepare the next generation of Real Estate Entrepreneurs.
Host: Steve Lawrence, Founder of SDL Real Estate Consulting & Curvin Leatham, CEO of AreaProbe
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.
In this episode of The Real Estate Shop, Steve and Curvin interview R. Donahue Peebles III, Founder and Chairman of Legacy Real Estate Development. He is a Washington, D.C. native and Columbia University graduate, with a Bachelor’s of Economics in 2016. Upon completing his degree, Donahue immediately began cultivating his personal legacy working side-by-side with his father, Don Peebles, to propagate the continued success of the family’s namesake real estate development firm. His early executive work includes managing the development of office, hospitality, and condominium product, with notable projects like 108 Leonard in Manhattan, 10 G Green Street in Washington D.C. in his portfolio.As Executive Vice President at The Peebles Corporation, Donahue steers the company’s the day-to-day efforts in and leads an experienced acquisitions and development team focused on public-private partnerships who consistently exceed public benefit and diversity and inclusion goals nationwide.Donahue founded Legacy in 2017 as a means for The Peebles Corporation achieve its affordable housing goals across its national portfolio. In collaboration with his business partner and CEO, Jerrod Delaine, Donahue has realized his vision for Legacy to invest in growing development capacity among people of color through his invaluable affordable and workforce housing development and finance expertise.
In this episode of The Real Estate Shop, Steve and Curvin interview Christopher Donald, the CEO of DC Housing Finance Agency to hear about their housing finance programs, and the vision for housing in the District of Columbia.
Join Steve and Curvin for a discussion with Derick Tillman and Sabreena Miller on what's happening from a development standpoint in Pittsburgh, PA. Mr. Derrick L. Tillman is CEO and President of Bridging the Gap. He is a thought leader, forging ahead to create new opportunities for community development. He leads BTG in its mission to rebuild healthy and sustainable communities through residential and commercial development. Sabreena Miller is the Councilwoman-elect for Bellevue Borough Council in Ward 1. Ms. Miller is also the Real Estate Deveopment Manager for Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh.
CHAD P. MUSGROVE is a Senior Vice President at M&T Realty Capital Corporation (MTRCC) having joined in June 2022. Mr. Musgrove originates multifamily affordable and conventional loans nationwide via the DUS, Optigo, and HUD platforms. He currently oversees Agency production for MTRCC in Miami and also provides structured finance solutions via the capital markets for non-multifamily commercial real estate. Mr. Musgrove has directly been involved in structuring more than $2.5 Billion in loans throughout his career.Prior to joining MTRCC, Mr. Musgrove was an Associate Director at Lument for over a decade having worked for its predecessor firms Hunt Real Estate Capital & Centerline Capital Group. He began his tenure in New York and relocated to Miami in 2014 to expand the company’s Agency footprint across Florida, the Southeastern US and nationally. He also spent time in the payments finance sector as an Associate Consultant within the Industry Roundtable division for Auriemma Consulting Group, where he was responsible for business development with C-suite professionals while consulting on corporate finance & strategy related to mortgage banking debt collections. Before joining Auriemma, Mr. Musgrove was a Research Associate for Coleman Research Group where he performed specific primary research in identifying market trends that covered sector-specific topics across real estate, mortgages, and other merchant services for buy-side institutional investors.
Meet Ms. Carmen Romero, CEO & President of APAH (Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing). Ms. Romero joined the organization in 2011 and has spent the last decade overseeing the real estate team contributing to the creation or preservation of over 1,500 new affordable housing units in the DC region with additional developments underway today in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Montgomery county. Prior to joining APAH in 2011, Ms. Romero was a Director of Real Estate Development and Public Private Partnerships at Clark Construction. She began her career at Marriott International.During this episode, Ms. Romero discusses growing the non-profit organizations' internal staff, geographic boundaries, and leveraging public resources to bring affordable housing into high cost communities. Ms. Romero received her MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. She is a former Board Member of the Arlington County Industrial Development Authority and is a current board member of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, ULI’s Affordable/Workforce Housing Council, and a member of the VHDA Multi-Family Advisory Council.
Sasha is a leader of affordable housing and community development with over 20 years’ experience in re-building communities for low-income individuals, families, and seniors. She brings executive experience in leading teams, directing projects, risk management and building public- private partnerships. She has led multiple LIHTC projects resulting in over $350,000,000 of investment in affordable and mixed income communities.
Stephanie Pierre-Louis is the Managing Director of National Equity Fund (NEF) for the Mid-Atlantic region. During this podcast, Stephanie will discuss current market conditions, available financing programs, and ways developers are getting deals done through the current economic climate. Stephanie Pierre-Louis BioStephanie has over 17 years' experience in Community Development Finance with a passion to deliver for clients. She has worked in several markets across the country including Boston, NYC, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., creating an in depth understanding of local market nuances while appreciating the national need of sustainable, affordable housing and ultimately strong communities. Her past experience includes charter school financing, affordable housing and market rate housing.
Join Steve and Curvin for an interview with Eddy Benoit Jr., the President and CEO of The Benoit Group an Atlanta, GA based commercial development group and a real estate consulting firm. Mr. Benoit has over twenty years of experience in the commercial development industry totaling over $2 billion in project value, he currently focuses on the firm’s business diversification and geographical expansion. The Benoit Group’s platform involves low risk development pursuits and real estate advisory services, positioning the firm to succeed through various real estate cycles.
New York City officials have kickstarted a $1 billion plan to develop infrastructure and new affordable housing to revitalize the Brownsville area in Brooklyn, NY. Join Ericka Keller and La'Shawn Allen-Muhammad as they discuss their multi-phased mixed-use development project to redefine Brownsville. In November of 2021 Ebenezer Plaza, a three-phased, 316 units of family housing was delivered in addition to 47,500 s/f of community facility and commercial retail core and shell.
Next up is a 233-unit development called Glenmore Manor Apartments which will serve a range of at-risk populations in Brooklyn, from formerly homeless individuals to low-income seniors to extremely low-income families.
The larger Brownsville Development Plan, led by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), aims to build over 2,500 new affordable homes and implement critical neighborhood investments. Each of the three initial sites will address a specific need in the neighborhood, such as arts and culture, economic opportunity, and health.
Other development teams are underway on sites A and C of the plan, and the three communities together will total nearly 900 homes for New York City’s underprivileged.
Join Steve Lawrence, Founder of SDL Real Estate Consulting & Curvin Leatham, CEO of AreaProbe for an interview with Ernst Valery, President of Ernst Valery Investments and Adrian Washington, President of Neighborhood Development Company
In this episode Ernst and Adrian outline their individual career paths and how they entered the real estate industry. Working through pitfalls, racism, and structuring their organization for growth. At the time of this podcast, Adrian had completed close to 50 real estate projects in the DC/Maryland area across various asset types, and Ernst is a bi-coastal real estate developer with a resume of over 3,000 apartment units delivered. Both have a mission driven approach to how they evaluate a real estate deal.
Join Steve Lawrence, Founder of SDL Real Estate Consulting & Curvin Leatham, CEO of AreaProbe for an interview with Greg Reaves and Leslie Smallwood-Lewis, Co-Founders of Mosaic Development Partners.
Greg and Leslie have a development pipeline of over $2B in the city of Philadelphia. The team is expanding into new markets and growing internally. However, when Greg and Leslie started Mosaic, they had to be extremely creative to acquire their first property due to limited financial resources. In this podcast, the duo take us from how they got into the industry, to now becoming one of the largest development firms on the east coast.
In this episode of The RealEstateShop, Steve and Curvin interview Buwa Binitie, Founder of Dantes Partners, one of the largest affordable housing development firms in the country. Buwa shares his story on why he started Dantes Partners, overcoming challenges, the evolution of the company since the inception, and how he manages life outside of work. Its an episode you don't want to miss.