Bret Garwood

Bret Garwood

CEO, Home Leasing

Years in current role: 2

What do you enjoy most about your role?

At Home Leasing we are involved in a wide range of work relating to real estate and construction. We have a Development unit focused on financing new projects with a priority on affordable housing, a Property Management unit that currently manages approximately 3,000 housing units, and we have a separate company, Home Leasing Construction, that builds our own projects as well as acts as a general contractor for other developers. I thoroughly enjoy working to empower my colleagues who bring their diverse skills to do important, impactful, and complex projects.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve dealt with over the past year?

Adjusting our business practices quickly and often as the pandemic emerged and evolved has been the focus of much of our work this past year. We needed to make a lot of quick decisions during very uncertain times to do whatever could be done to keep our residents and staff safe while also making sure all our critical functions continued. I was very proud of the affordable housing industry in particular as companies who are in many ways competitors worked closely together to think about solutions to problems as they emerged and shared freely and openly to help each other.

What do you see as the biggest changes in the real estate and construction industries in the next 3-5 years?

The design and construction of buildings will change dramatically over the next few years as the industry must adjust to better ways for heating and cooling buildings to address climate change.

What community organizations do you support as a volunteer and why?

I serve on the Board of Directors of East House because I want to help a strong organization that is focused on empowering individuals with mental health and substance use disorders to recover and to live healthy, fulfilling lives in our community. These are important concerns that need substantially more attention in our community. In my work at Home Leasing, we are passionate about addressing homelessness through partnerships with Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach and Person Centered Housing to help provide permanent, supportive housing.

What are you most looking forward to doing as COVID restrictions ease?

Going out to enjoy live music and theater again.