Joanne Carras
Director of Economic Development
As a real estate and finance executive with over 43 years in the public and private sectors, Ms. Carras has developed, implemented and managed programs, and supervised and mentored teams with great success in all areas of real estate development and finance. Her areas of expertise are extensive with respect to real estate acquisition, leasing, management, negotiating agreements, financial modeling, grant management, real property master planning, oversight of building design and operations, redevelopment, historic preservation and adaptation, environmental remediation, infrastructure planning, construction management and facilitating sustainability while executing creative financing strategies.
With over 15 years in the public sector, elected as a council member to serve Los Angeles County and appointed in Federal and municipal positions, she has gained unparalleled expertise in the public process and access to public resources making her uniquely qualified to successfully foster and execute public-private partnerships [P3] stimulating economic development and sustainable economic growth for marginalized communities. Her approach incorporates transparency, equity and inclusion which always results in garnishing consensus for a win-win results.
Her creative concepts and strategies have been shared and modeled by numerous non-profit organizations and communities throughout the country. Her passion to facilitate development in economically challenged communities has resulted in millions of square feet of urban infill development valued in excess of $3 Billion in housing and commercial development. Her creative concepts and strategies have been shared and modeled by numerous non-profit organizations and communities throughout the country. Her passion to facilitate development in economically challenged communities has resulted in millions of square feet of urban infill development valued in excess of $3 Billion in housing and commercial development.
In 1983, she expanded her professional career by obtaining her real estate license the State of Arizona and subsequently in the State of California.She has since rehabilitated and developed from ground up over 1,550 housing units, including multifamily, affordable, student and SFR’s many of which have been catalytic housing within mixed use transit developments. She is an expert in securing public subsidies, gap funding and other resources that leverage higher investor returns. From preparation of development budgets, cash flow projections and operating budgets tied to feasible designs and construction costs, given her unparalleled expertise in feasibility analysis and negotiating development agreements since she has sat on both sides of the table for over 40 years.
She has overseen millions of square feet of construction of projects from one custom residence to a 60-acre master planned community having negotiated over billions of dollars in financial agreements and managed over millions of square feet of all industry type assets nationwide. She understands the entitlement process and is very savvy when it comes to negotiating land use and master planning to achieve the double bottom line.
With over 15 years in the public sector, elected as a council member to serve Los Angeles County and appointed in Federal and municipal positions, she has gained unparalleled expertise in the public process and access to public resources making her uniquely qualified to successfully foster and execute public-private partnerships [P3] stimulating economic development and sustainable economic growth for marginalized communities. Her approach incorporates transparency, equity and inclusion which always results in garnishing consensus for a win-win results.
Her creative concepts and strategies have been shared and modeled by numerous non-profit organizations and communities throughout the country. Her passion to facilitate development in economically challenged communities has resulted in millions of square feet of urban infill development valued in excess of $3 Billion in housing and commercial development. Her creative concepts and strategies have been shared and modeled by numerous non-profit organizations and communities throughout the country. Her passion to facilitate development in economically challenged communities has resulted in millions of square feet of urban infill development valued in excess of $3 Billion in housing and commercial development.
In 1983, she expanded her professional career by obtaining her real estate license the State of Arizona and subsequently in the State of California.She has since rehabilitated and developed from ground up over 1,550 housing units, including multifamily, affordable, student and SFR’s many of which have been catalytic housing within mixed use transit developments. She is an expert in securing public subsidies, gap funding and other resources that leverage higher investor returns. From preparation of development budgets, cash flow projections and operating budgets tied to feasible designs and construction costs, given her unparalleled expertise in feasibility analysis and negotiating development agreements since she has sat on both sides of the table for over 40 years.
She has overseen millions of square feet of construction of projects from one custom residence to a 60-acre master planned community having negotiated over billions of dollars in financial agreements and managed over millions of square feet of all industry type assets nationwide. She understands the entitlement process and is very savvy when it comes to negotiating land use and master planning to achieve the double bottom line.