Rachel Loeb of NYCEDC | Bronx Point in Bronx | Building with Integrity
Courtesy of NYCEDC
Building with Integrity
Today, our guest is Rachel Loeb. Rachel is the President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. NYCEDC is a mission-driven non-profit organization that works on behalf of New York City to invest in neighborhoods to address long-standing community needs. We’ll chat about the Bronx Point project, which broke ground earlier this year. It features 542 units of affordable housing, creates a new waterfront esplanade, 10,000 square feet of retail, and the Universal Hip Hop Museum. Tune in as we discuss how this project will benefit the community, the importance of diversity in leadership, and the necessity for follow-through when it comes to the value you promise.
“I believe in the value of diversity. Organizations make better decisions when there are a diversity of decisions, diversity of voices, and diversity of leadership types. You will evolve and change and see challenges differently.”
Courtesy of NYCEDC
About Rachel Loeb
Rachel is the President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. NYCEDC is a mission-driven non-profit organization. The organization works on behalf of New York City to invest in neighborhoods to address long-standing community needs. EDC drives sustainable infrastructures like affordable housing and open space and oversees initiatives to create jobs and lead innovation to strengthen the City’s competitiveness. Rachel served previously as the COO of NYCEDC before being President. Before her public sector career, she worked in senior development roles at The World Wide Group and Avalon Bay.
Courtesy of NYCEDC
Episode Timestamps
8:19 – For our listeners who may not be that familiar with New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), it's a nonprofit that works on behalf of the City of New York to encourage economic development. Particularly post-Hurricane Sandy, that focus has been on boosting the economy through life sciences and tech. Could you talk particularly why you think those are important to New York City and particularly post-pandemic why those are important?
13:53 – Could you talk about the needs that the New York City EDC see in this next wave of projects that are happening along the Bronx waterfront, particularly in the larger context of the Bronx Point project?
17:31 – Could you walk us through the stats for the Bronx Point project?
21:09 – The first phase of this project was $350 million. Could you talk about the breakdown of what those large buckets were used for and where the sources of funding were coming from?
25:16 – You were appointed as the CEO of the New York City EDC this past May by Mayor de Blasio. Talk to us about the process of getting that job.
29:07 – Would you say that there are other areas of your leadership that you're particularly proud of or that perhaps you're looking to improve as well?
32:44 – There are certain projects that you took over from the previous administration. Could you talk about why that is so important to you, and why you think that's important to the long-term trajectory of the New York City EDC?
35:35 – Are there ways that you want to use your office and the strength of your role in order to drive innovation within our own industry?
38:54 – What advice would you have for people who plan to work in the private sector, but want to have a positive impact on their communities, or those that hope to work in the public sector, but to be able to make an impact at the rate they would if they worked in the private sector?
Connect with Rachel Loeb:
LinkedIn (Rachel Loeb)
LinkedIn (NYCEDC)
Instagram (NYCEDC)
NYCEDC
Courtesy of NYCEDC
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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