Housing Question (2014)

James founded JLP+D in 2011 after leading redevelopment strategies for various sites as a partner at HR&A Advisors. Previously, he was Senior Director of Development in the New York office of residential REIT AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Additionally, James was appointed as founding President of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. Lima also served as Senior Vice President for Special Projects at the NYC Economic Development Corporation. He also worked as Assistant Commissioner at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and at Forest City Ratner Companies.
James earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College and stayed on at Columbia to complete the MSRED Program.

James serves on the Economic Development Committee of the Fourth Regional Plan for the Regional Plan Association in New York. He is a member of the Design Trust for Public Space’s Design Trust Council, and is on the Advisory Council to public art innovator ArtBridge. He also serves as Secretary of the New York Harbor Foundation.

Joe Rose directs Rose Urban Strategies in New York City. He was previously a partner in The Georgetown Company, a privately held real estate development firm. Prior to joining Georgetown, Mr. Rose served for eight years as Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and Director of the Department of City Planning. While there, he initiated a broad range of strategic initiatives including extensive rezonings throughout the city which spurred a tripling of the city’s annual housing production.

Mr. Rose has held teaching positions at the Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, and has lectured at the Harvard School of Design, the Yale University School of Architecture, Princeton University, NYU Law School, and the Urban Land Institute. His publications include articles in The Public Interest, The New York Times, The New Republic, The City Journal, and The Journal of the American Planning Association.

Landscape architect Laura Starr is an expert in the planning and design of urban parks. Her practice began with a twelve-year tenure at the Central Park Conservancy during its formative years as a public-private partnership, giving Starr a rare insider’s experience with the workings of this new park management structure. Growing into the role of the Park’s Chief of Design, Starr mastered the process of consensus building among multiple clients and stakeholders in order to implement a series of award winning designs. Working on projects such as the reconstructing the Harlem Meer and developing a master plan for the west side perimeter, Starr absorbed the Olmsted’s artful choreography and sequencing of one’s landscape experience that has greatly influenced her practice.

Marilyn Jordan Taylor is now Professor of Architecture & Urban Design at the University of Pennsylvania where she was recruited as Dean of the School of Design from 2008 – 2016. During her prior 35 years of practice at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP, she led many of the firm’s largest and most complex transportation, urban design and master planning projects including JFK Terminal 4, Singapore Changi Terminal 3, the Columbia University Manhattanville campus, master plans for Downtown Newark, and the highly-acclaimed Denver Union Station neighborhood and transit hub. She became Partner and then Chairman of SOM while also earning a reputation for civic leadership at the AIA, RPA, NY Building Congress, Rebuild by Design and the Urban Land Institute. Her research and continuing work place emphasis on the importance of design excellence, place-making and innovative project delivery strategies that build community, enhance vitality, and create inclusive and long-term value.

David J. Burney, FAIA, is Associate Professor of the Pratt Institute, where he leads the Placemaking and Public Space management program. Previously, he served as Commissioner of the NYC Department of Design and Construction from 2004-2013, where he managed capital projects for a variety of City agencies including the Departments of Transportation and Environmental Protection; and for the many cultural institutions that receive capital funds. At Mayor Bloomberg's direction, David Burney launched a City-wide "Design and Construction Excellence Initiative" with the goal of raising the quality of design and construction of public works throughout New York City. Prior to joining DDC, Mr. Burney was Director of Design and Capital Improvement at the New York City Housing Authority. From 1982 to 1990 Mr. Burney practiced architecture with Davis Brody & Associates where he was involved in a variety of projects. Mr. Burney was educated at the Heriott-Watt University in Edinburgh and at the University of London.

Abby Hamlin is a New York City based real estate developer and civic thinker. In 1998, she founded Hamlin Ventures, which today, remains one of a handful of successful woman-owned development companies. Recently, the New York Times credited her eponymous company as the catalyst for a resurgence of townhouse development in Brooklyn, noting that the design of her two projects, 14 Townhouses and 9 Townhouses “set the bar high” for those who followed.

Prior to forming Hamlin Ventures Ms. Hamlin was President of Swig Weiler & Arnow Mgt. Co., Inc. a premiere Manhattan-based commercial real estate company that developed, owned and managed 8 million square feet of office properties in New York City and San Francisco, as well as the Fairmont Hotels. She worked with Swig Weiler & Arnow for almost fifteen years, spearheading a number of large-scale development projects and managing the organization for its private owners.

An active civic leader, Ms. Hamlin is a member of the board of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and has led several of its key public design initiatives, including the CLS BID Vision Plan (a streetscape plan for Downtown Brooklyn), and “Re-Imagining the Wall,” a design competition that brought works by community arts groups (Groundswell), emerging and recognized artists (Steve Powers) to Downtown Brooklyn’s blank walls.

Recognized as an expert in the field of public design, Ms. Hamlin was a member of the board of the Van Alen Institute for Public Architecture from 2001-2010, and was its Chair from 2007-2010. As Chair she organized numerous public design events and design competitions including: Project Eco: Delta, Parks For The People, and Life at the Speed of Rail. Ms. Hamlin is a frequent participant in design juries. Most recently she served as a juror for the National Endowment For the Arts, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the City of New Rochelle and the Enterprise Community Foundation. This year she will serve as an advisor to the Mayor’s Institute of Design. At present, Ms. Hamlin is also a Trustee of Art Omi, an outdoor sculpture park and artist’s residency program in Ghent, New York, and a board member of Trainor Dance. She holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a Masters of Urban Planning from Princeton University.

Susannah C. Drake is the founding principal, of DLANDstudio Architecture + Landscape Architecture, pllc. an award winning multi-disciplinary design firm. DLANDstudio is the recipient of National and International urban design awards from the AIA, ASLA and Chicago Athenaeum among others. As one of very few designers of her generation with professional design qualifications in Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Susannah paved the way for more synthetic thinking about urban ecological infrastructure.
She is the recipient of grants from the Graham Foundation, the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, the James Marston Fitch Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Center for Architecture for research on campus landscapes and large scale urban infrastructure projects. Susannah is the former President and Trustee of the New York ASLA and former Trustee of the Van Alen Institute. She is the author of Elastic Landscape: Seeding Ecology in Public Space & Urban Infrastructure which was recently published in the collection of essays entitled Infrastruktururbanismus.

Susannah received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from Dartmouth College in 1987 and Master in Architecture and Master in Landscape Architecture degrees from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1995.

Mark Willis is the Interim Executive Director and a Resident Research Fellow at the Furman Center. Before joining the Center, Mark was a Visiting Scholar at the Ford Foundation, working on research related to community development and the financial services sector. Prior to his time at Ford, Mark spent 19 years at JPMorgan Chase. Before joining Chase, Mark held various positions in economic development and tax policy with the City of New York, including Deputy Commissioner for Development at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Mark co-chairs Housing First! in New York City and has previously chaired the New York Community Investment Company and the Consumer Bankers Association’s Community Reinvestment Committee, and co-chaired Living Cities: The National Community Development Initiative. He has a B.A. degree in economics from Yale University, a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, and a Ph.D. degree in urban economics and industrial organization from Yale University.

Frank Sciame established Sciame Construction in 1975 and has steadily grown the firm over this period by producing consistently high-quality projects, with tenacity, creativity, and meticulous attention to detail in every aspect of his work, ensuring timely and successful project completion. Current projects underway are valued at over one billion dollars.

With a degree in architecture from CCNY, Frank is sought out as a construction partner to top designers. He has been referred to as a builder with the vision of an architect. Completed projects include the addition to the Morgan Library and Museum, Pratt Institute School of Architecture, the restoration of Historic Front Street, Central Synagogue Restoration, Harvard Club of New York City, and the South Court Addition to New York Public Library’s Main Branch, the new laboratory building at Cooper Union, and the FDR Four Freedoms Park Memorial on Roosevelt Island. Current projects include projects for Universities including New York University, Columbia, and Princeton.

Frank’s accomplishments, contributions, and his dedication to preserving New York City’s treasures have been recognized with numerous honors. Among his commitments, he is a Board Member and Past Chairman of the New York Landmarks Conservancy and a Board Member and Past Chairman for the New York Building Congress. He also serves on the Boards of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Association for Lower Manhattan and The City College 21st Century Foundation. Frank is also a Member of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations Industry Advisory Group. In 2004, CCNY awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree.