Evan Becker stopped by the Travois office this week to catch up with our Chairman David Bland. David and Evan are friends, colleagues and collaborators who first met while working at the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority in 1976.
Evan is an experienced affordable housing professional and has worked as a consultant, developer, lender, investor and builder of affordable housing. We interrupted their conversation to get their take on the state of the affordable housing industry.
1. How many combined years do you have in the affordable housing industry? 78
2. How many combined projects have you worked on in that time? 470
3. Together, how many states have you worked in? 30
4. How has the affordable housing industry changed over your careers?
Evan: “The biggest change has been the move away from a governmental program to a largely private program combining for-profit, nonprofit and other sources. Competition has resulted in affordable housing reaching out into other public policy goals and a quality of product that is just tremendous.”
David: “The biggest change I have seen over time is the upward movement in the base of project quality and project size. There has been a huge increase in the range of amenities and things that add to a sense of community.”
Thanks for visiting us, Evan! We hope to see you again soon.