Clara Fox Outstanding Achievement Award

Chuck Brass began his career in housing as a graduate student at UNC’s Department of City and Regional Planning, where he interned at Hope Community in East Harlem working on vacant building rehab projects.

He joined HPD in 1981 as a State and Federal policy analyst, working on 421a reform and Federal budget cuts, before moving into development and housing finance. In 1984, he joined HDC, where he spent two decades creating innovative affordable housing financing tools — including the first housing bond issue backed by SONYMA insurance and the Open Resolution — that have helped finance nearly 140,000 units across NYC. As President of the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies, he led HDC’s lobbying efforts, securing permanent LIHTC authorization and lowering the “70% Test” to 50%, a change that enabled thousands more affordable homes nationwide.

After HDC, he helped develop thousands of affordable homes and a new Boricua College campus through roles at the Community Preservation Corporation and Atlantic Development.

Since 2009, he has been a Partner at Forsyth, structuring financing for 50+ developments totaling 17,000 units and $5.3 billion. He has also served on the boards of the New York Housing Conference, NYSAFAH, Settlement Housing Fund, and Selfhelp Realty Group.

Most importantly, Chuck met his wife Tammy at HDC — they’ve been married 37 years and have two sons, Andrew and Daniel.