Leon Hovsepian is an Adjunct Associate Professor teaching real estate finance in the Urban Planning program. He recently transitioned from the public sector back to the private, going to Omnibuild to help start a new development practice. Already an established general contractor with a strong track record, Omnibuild is looking to vertically integrate into market-rate residential, affordable housing, and mixed-use development and ownership.
Leon was formerly the Executive Director of Credit & Special Underwriting at New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), within the Office of Development, and chaired HPD’s Credit Committee for four years. HPD is the nation’s largest municipal housing agency of its kind, and is an innovator in affordable housing finance and policy. Leon’s work focused on holistic reviews of affordable housing investments, assessing costs along with public benefits, and informing housing policy through creative financial analysis.
Before joining HPD Development, Leon worked in HPD’s Office of Asset and Property Management as the Director of Finance, where he reviewed the performance of the existing affordable housing portfolio. Prior to HPD, Leon worked in real estate acquisitions looking at market rate properties across the country. And in a previous career, he worked for JPMorgan Chase trading US$ and JPY interest rate books of swaps, forwards, futures, and bonds.
Leon holds a Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) from NYU Schack; a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University, through their Executive program; and a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University.
