A nationwide search is underway for a new CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority to succeed Eugene Jones Jr., who has announced his intention to step down.
The search for a new leader has taken on greater significance given the city’s ambitious goal to add 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030 – with Atlanta Housing expected to deliver 10,000 of those units.
The importance of the search is reflected by the influential leaders who are serving on the executive committee.
Duriya Farooqui, a board member of Atlanta Housing who has a wealth of experience in business and government, is chairing the search.
Larry Stewart, an entrepreneur who is chair of Atlanta Housing, also is on the search. The only other AH board member on the committee is Rosalind Elliott, who is a resident of Atlanta Housing.
The other search committee members are:
- Bill Bolling, a longtime civic leader who is the founder of the Atlanta Regional Housing Forum
- Renee Glover, former CEO of Atlanta Housing, who is credited for being a transformational national leader
- Matt Bronfman, CEO of Jamestown — developer of Ponce City Market; and
- Alan Ferguson Sr., president and CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity
“The reason why I immediately agreed to chair the search is because I think this will be a leader who will have a generational impact on Atlanta,” Farooqui said. “We want to find a leader who is the right person to take the agency forward and maximize on the momentum we have in our city.”
Farooqui said people are interested in the position because Mayor Andre Dickens has made housing affordability a top priority of his administration.
During a talk at the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Dec. 4, Dickens spoke about how his administration has already built or preserved 3,000 units of affordable housing, and there are another 5,000 units under development, either pre-construction or under construction.
“We are looking forward to the new CEO for Atlanta Housing,” Dickens said. “As Eugene Jones moves on, he has done amazing work.”
In a brief interview after his talk, Dickens elaborated on why the role of Atlanta Housing CEO is so important.
“My goal of 20,000 units of affordable housing won’t build themselves,” Dickens said. “We’re going to need the Atlanta Housing organization to build or preserve about 10,000 of those and to continue [the housing] voucher program. They have got to be the best in the nation at delivery but also operations. So, we need a great leader to do that.”
Historically, Atlanta has been a game changer for housing in the country. The first public housing projects in the nation were Techwood Homes and University Homes — when they opened in 1936.
Atlanta made history again in the mid-1990s when it helped shape the HOPE VI model that included replacing Techwood Homes with Centennial Place, a mixed-income community to avoid a concentration of poverty. Glover, and development partner, Egbert Perry of the Integral Group, became national leaders in urban revitalization because of that transformation.
Now, a new leader for Atlanta Housing is being viewed as someone who can reestablish the city’s place in history as a model for housing in the nation. The authority’s development activity was stagnant for nearly a decade after Glover left AHA because she didn’t have the support of then-Mayor Kasim Reed. She served as AHA’s CEO from 1994 through 2013.
Then there was a revolving door of AH CEOs. Jones joined the organization in October 2019 with a mandate to settle outstanding lawsuits with Glover, Egbert Perry and business partners and to reboot the authority’s efforts to build affordable housing.
Then, in the spring of 2022, the Dickens administration replaced most of the members of the AH board to ensure they shared his vision. In the past couple of years, Atlanta Housing has become more intentional about developing new housing with a successful $40 million federal Choice grant for Bowen Homes and a development plan for the Civic Center as well as other initiatives, including the former Herndon Homes property.
“We have 200-plus acres of land that hasn’t yet been developed,” Farooqui said. “We have a responsibility to ensure AHA is using its assets to deliver as much affordable housing as it can.”
AH Chair Stewart said in a phone interview that Atlanta Housing is becoming a national thought leader on housing affordability, describing Atlanta’s “housing ecosystem” as healthy.
“We are all moving in the same direction,” Stewart said. “What Gene has done is stabilize this organization, and now we want a CEO who can build on that foundation and carry us to the next evolution of creating healthy neighborhoods.”
Stewart went on to describe what he’s looking for in the next CEO.
“We need a CEO who understands Atlanta, understands our position in this affordability challenge, and someone who is ready to meet the moment,” he said. “It is an expectation of mine and the board that we want our next CEO to be a leader in affordability for the entire city.”
Farooqui described the role similarly.
“We need a CEO for Atlanta Housing who can really drive execution, someone who is a strong communicator, someone who understands real estate development, someone who can also work with partners, someone who can see these projects through with a strong sense of integrity and ethics,” Farooqui said. “We absolutely need someone who can hit the ground running.”
Currently the search, which is being supported by the Goodwin Group’s Jeff Anderson, is in its first round of interviews. It is considering both internal and external candidates as well as people in Atlanta and outside the city.
“We will get to the end of this search by leaving no stones unturned,” Stewart said.
Farooqui said the position is attractive to potential candidates.
“There’s a tremendous amount of interest to lead the Atlanta Housing Authority at this time,” she said. “There are people with really strong credentials and development experience. Atlanta is an attractive place on this issue.”
It is expected the next round with top candidates likely will include in-person interviews, and the finalists will be submitted to the mayor for his input. The final decision will be made by the Atlanta Housing board.
“We are trying to do this quickly,” Farooqui said. “We expect to name someone in January.”
