Mark James is a real estate development officer with Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC), based in Washington, DC. CPDC is the largest provider of affordable housing in the DC metropolitan area, with nearly 5,000 units of affordable housing within its portfolio. An accomplished real estate development professional, Mark brings over 14 years of affordable housing experience to CPDC with an emphasis on incorporating sustainable design and construction standards into his affordable housing projects. His professional background includes multi-layered housing finance, affordable housing preservation, urban neighborhood planning, and sustainable energy solutions.
Prior to joining CPDC, Mark resided in Pittsburgh, PA for 13 years; during this time his professional experience included operating a development consulting firm for affordable housing projects in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Mark was the Director of Acquisitions for Renewal Housing Associates, based in Portland, MA and was a vice president in the Community Investment Division with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh for five years.
In his first two years at CPDC, Mark has established himself as an innovator in the development of green affordable housing. He is currently the project manager for the Wheeler Terrace Apartments Redevelopment, located in Washington, DC. This 116-unit project-based Section 8 housing community will be the first affordable housing project in the nation’s capital to meet LEED certification (gold level) and will also meet Enterprise Community Partners’ Green Communities Criteria. The project has emphasized the use of a ground-source heat pump to reduce energy costs by 40% and will reach some of the highest indoor air quality standards ever achieved for affordable housing throughout the DC Metro region. An article in the January, 2009 issue of Affordable Housing Finance Magazine features the Wheeler Terrace project.
Mark James is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), where he received his Master in Urban Planning. He received a B.A. from Hampton University and is a Woodrow Wilson Public Policy Fellow of Princeton University. Mark is a native of the Washington, DC metropolitan area and recently relocated to Columbia, MD with his wife, Maria, and their four daughters. As a dedicated business and community leader, he believes in the power of everyday people to do great things.