Changemaker: Steve Shraiberg and Al Blum
Steve Shraiberg and Al Blum serve as principals of Urban, Inc., a real estate and property management firm based in Denver that has been in operation since 1973. For more than five decades, Steve and Al have been involved in a wide range of developments throughout the state including affordable rental housing supported by Housing Tax Credits and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), senior and assisted living properties, for-sale housing, and commercial real estate.
Steve’s introduction to affordable housing occurred during one of his first full-time jobs. In 1971, not long after graduating from the University of Colorado, Steve was hired by a Denver-based developer whose work centered on HUD-supported developments in the southern United States. Steve recalled the first day in the office, and his crash course introduction to the world of HUD programs.
“The first day, my boss instructed me to take a stack of HUD manuals into the other room, read them, and then he would send me on a plane to visit a project in Picayune, Mississippi,” Steve explained. “It was a Section 236 project, and that’s really where I got my start.”
Section 236 refers to a rental assistance program established by the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, which included a suite of initiatives designed to construct and rehabilitate housing throughout the United States. Much of these were to be administered through HUD, which had been founded as a department of the presidential cabinet three years prior.
“I always had a desire to do affordable housing,” Steve said, “especially after being down in the South and witnessing incredible poverty.”
After being involved in several more affordable housing developments in the South, Steve branched out on his own and turned his focus to the Colorado market, and developing HUD-supported properties as a private developer. Throughout the 1970s, Steve established a portfolio of affordable housing. Then, in 1979, Steve met Al, a certified public accountant and practicing tax attorney who was looking for an opportunity to shift his career focus.
“I was really in the right place at the right time when I met Steve and wanted to get involved in affordable housing,” said Al. “After we started working together, we worked on affordable housing all over the state—everywhere from Durango to Grand Junction to Buena Vista to Cañon City.”
In addition to building housing, Urban, Inc. owned and managed the properties in their portfolio until the early 2000s. The sale of the affordable units in their portfolio in 2002 caught the attention of the national media, both due to the size of the transaction and its high-profile buyer, NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal. The purchase of the 21 affordable properties comprised of approximately 1,500 units followed a years-long search by Steve and Al for a buyer who was committed to preserving their long-term affordability.
CHFA provided financing for the deal, and hosted Shaq at its Denver headquarters when it came time to finalize the transaction. Cris White, who then served as CHFA’s Deputy Executive Director, told The Rocky Mountain News that the preservation deal was believed to be one of the largest of its kind in the nation, and he hoped it might serve as a national model.
“Shaq grew up in Section 8 housing,” Steve explained, “and he had a desire to own and provide affordable housing. We had brokers contacting us about our portfolio over the years given that its ownership was public record, but until he reached out, none of the brokers we had spoken to had the ability to take on that large of a portfolio.”
In the ensuing years, Urban, Inc., continued to develop housing across the housing continuum and throughout the state. This included everything from affordable rental housing developments supported by Housing Tax Credits to memory care facilities for older adults to for-sale condominiums and townhomes. They also continued to provide property management services, leveraging their decades of experience in the real estate industry.
“Al and I want to build a legacy,” said Steve, “and we’ve been committed to this work for 50 years.”
“One of the most satisfying parts of this work is seeing a finished project,” added Al. “I remember speaking to a woman who was moving into one of the properties we developed, and she told me it was the first time she had a roof of her own over her head in two years. Stories like that provide the satisfaction that not only have you built and created something, but you’ve provided a service for people who really need it.”