Purpose Built Communities Welcomes James Brooks as Vice President of Housing and Community Development

Jim Brooks, AICP, has joined the national nonprofit Purpose Built Communities as its Vice President of Housing and Community Development. As part of his role, Brooks will lead work around the organization’s mixed-income housing program and urban planning efforts, key components of Purpose Built Communities’ transformative model.

Brooks will be responsible for developing housing and neighborhood development strategies that ensure Purpose Built and its Network Members leverage industry best practices and innovative approaches that change neighborhoods and lives.

“We’re thrilled to add Jim to our leadership team as he brings with him deep experience and a proven track record in successfully doing the work our model can accomplish. As an organization, we believe that every neighborhood can become a pathway to prosperity for the people who live there — Jim will help us in advancing that mission,” said Carol R. Naughton, CEO, Purpose Built Communities.

In 1997, Brooks founded and for the next 25 years, served as CEO of the Boulevard Group, an award-winning national professional services firm that specialized in planning and managing urban revitalization projects. He has led planning and development efforts for major projects across the United States, including such diverse cities as Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Birmingham and Charlotte, with a value of over $2 billion.

Before founding Boulevard Group, Brooks dedicated 18 years to the public sector as a city planner and public official. He is the former Deputy Executive Director for Development for the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA), where he led the team that planned Centennial Place and Villages at East Lake, the mixed-income, mixed-use communities that became national models for urban housing development and affordable housing revitalization. Prior to his tenure with AHA, he was a Senior Planning and Development Officer for the City of Atlanta/Fulton County.

Thanks to an extensive career of impact, Brooks was twice named to Fortune Magazine’s “Inner City 100.” His projects have received both the Congress for New Urbanism Charter Award and the National American Institute of Architects Honor Award.