Builder - January 2009 - (Page 35) INSIDE STORY COMMEN TA RY A ND A N A LYSIS OF CUR R EN T E V EN T S ■ Inside: 36 38 Memory Jog HBAs remind members how much they’re worth Less Is More Smaller size, smaller price, bigger sales PLUS MORE > > EDITED BY JOHN CAULFIELD URBAN REDEVELOPMENT Changing Direction A developer detours to address Philadelphia’s affordable housing shortage. T richard borge he last phase of the 300-unit The Twins at Oxford Commons project in the Cecil B. Moore Home Ownership Zone in Philadelphia is scheduled to break ground during the fi rst quarter of 2009. This project, partially funded by HUD, had been riddled by mismanagement until OKKS Development took it over as the company’s fi rst big deal, which also set this developer on a different path from where it started in 2004. Bensalem, Pa.–based OKKS initially intended to focus on tax-credit rental projects and assembled a powerhouse team to execute that plan: The two K’s in its name are Leonard Korman, one of Philadelphia’s largest commercial developers, and attorney Lewis Katz, who coowns the New Jersey Nets professional basketball franchise. The O in OKKS is Jeff rey Orleans, chairman and CEO of Orleans Homebuilders, and the S is Michael Schurr, a commercial broker who is OKKS’s managing partner. Schurr spent two decades on the com- mercial side until, in 2003, “I looked at my industry and could not see sustained expansion.” He met with Orleans, who was interested in establishing a philanthropic organization to help meet the area’s lowincome housing needs. Orleans Homebuilders had worked previously with Habitat for Humanity, but was looking for something on a larger scale. Orleans asked Schurr what he knew about affordable housing. “At the time, I hadn’t even heard of it,” Schurr laughs. Six months later, he was presenting a business (see page 36) W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM ja n ua ry 2 0 0 9 BUILDER ■ 35 http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
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