Jeffrey Schwartz
Executive Director, Broad Community Connections
Broad Community Connections develops real estate projects in service of larger community development and public policy goals. The organization’s focus is reavitalizing Broad Street from Tulane Avenue to Bayou Road as a vibrant and equitable commercial district.
Most excited about…
I am really excited about the dramatic increase in the recognition of the importance of affordability for both residential and commercial real estate in New Orleans — a result of the hard work of the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, Mayor Landrieu’s administration, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, the Fair Housing Action Center and other partners and leaders. There are a number of imminent policy and financial tools that will be coming online over the coming year that will make high-impact and affordable real estate development an especially dynamic and fun part of the real estate market to be working in, not just over the next year, but for the next decade or more.
Biggest anticipated challenge…
Over the coming year, one of our biggest challenges is going to be sustaining momentum that will actually create financial tools, public policies and the right partnerships in order to be able to tackle the issues of affordability and the widening gap between rich and poor. In order to make sure everyone has access to quality and affordable real estate — whether a renter, a prospective homeowner, or a small business owner — we need to be really innovative and resourceful in how we use our limited resources to create real estate projects that benefit not just developers, but communities and the city as a whole. But I am optimistic we can do it!
