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.