Bronx Chamber of Commerce expands Real Estate & Housing Policy Council with two leading affordable-housing organizations

Bronx, NY The Bronx Chamber of Commerce has added two of the borough’s most active affordable housing organizations to its Real Estate & Housing Policy Council (REHPC): MBD Community Housing Corp. and L+M Development Partners.

The two organizations bring decades of combined experience in affordable housing development and preservation, housing finance, sustainable building, community engagement and complex real estate transactions to the advisory body the chamber launched in February to shape its positions on housing production and development policy.

“MBD and L+M bring the kind of real-world experience we want at the table, because both have a demonstrated record of financing, building and preserving affordable housing in the Bronx, and that record will make the Council’s work stronger,” said Lisa Sorin, president of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce.

MBD Community Housing Corp., led by president and CEO Derrick Lovett, is a Bronx-based nonprofit housing and community development organization founded in 1974. MBD has financed more than $1 billion in construction and rehabilitation, affecting more than 7,000 affordable housing units and over 10,000 individuals. Its projects include 425 Grand Concourse, a 277-unit affordable development built with Trinity Financial that is certified to Passive House standards and includes health care, educational and retail space.

“The affordability crisis is hitting nonprofit housing organizations especially hard, and the policies being written right now will determine whether the industry as a whole can keep building and preserving affordable homes in the Bronx,” said Lovett. “MBD has established strong relationships with both public and private agencies, and we look forward to adding value to this initiative through our experience and those connections.”

L+M Development Partners is among the largest affordable and mixed-income housing developers in New York, with an integrated platform spanning development, construction and property management. The firm and its affiliates report $24 billion in development and investment activity and more than 63,000 residential units constructed, acquired, preserved or in development. L+M’s recent work in the Bronx includes Bronx Point, a mixed-use development on the Harlem River with 542 permanently affordable apartments, community and educational space, retail and public open space, and will be the future home to The Hip Hop Museum.

“L+M has spent decades delivering quality affordable homes across the Bronx, and we are honored to join the Real Estate & Housing Policy Council and continue this work,” said Spencer Orkus, president of Development at L+M Development Partners. “The Council creates an essential connection between those creating housing policy and the teams carrying those policies out. Strengthening that partnership is critical to advancing affordable housing and meeting the needs of the Bronx residents today and well into the future.”

Both organizations are actively developing, financing, preserving and managing housing while working with government agencies, community stakeholders and other partners. This is the on-the-ground vantage point the council is built to draw on. Their addition further broadens the council’s collective perspective and strengthens its ability to turn borough-wide conversation into meaningful action, helping advance thoughtful housing policy and responsible development across the Bronx.

The council’s programming has already put city agencies in direct contact with the people who operate Bronx housing. On August 13, the chamber convened the Bronx Real Estate & Housing Agency Forum, a council program held with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Department of Buildings, where property owners, managers and housing professionals met with agency staff on permitting, inspections, code compliance and property-owner programs.

The council will continue to hold programs connecting industry professionals with the agencies that regulate them and will work with Bronx elected officials on policies that strengthen the borough’s housing stock and prioritize affordability.

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce Real Estate & Housing Policy Council brings together leaders from across the borough’s real estate, housing, development, finance and related sectors to examine the policies and issues shaping the Bronx’s housing and development landscape. The council works to identify priority legislative and regulatory issues and advises the chamber’s advocacy at the city and state levels.

Established in 1894, the Bronx Chamber of Commerce is one of New York City’s leading business organizations.